Please note: 'The Hawthorne Effect' is available as instant grat with the album digital and 12" eco-vinyl purchase

Llyr’s 'Biome' project is an expansive audio documentation of natural beauty and human impact, created from a library of sounds he collected in the rainforests of Borneo. With one foot in the rave and the other committed to widescreen dynamics, dancefloor bangers sit side-by-side with textural ambient, sweeping harmonies and freeform electronica. Set for release on 29th July 2021, it is the first full-length album from Berlin resident Gareth Williams aka Llyr.

Explaining the origins of the track, Llyr says "The rain had just stopped after a three day downpour and we were sitting in the outdoor kitchen area in a longhouse on an organic farm on the outskirts of the rainforest. It was early evening and we were eating under the light of a simple lamp. A large insect flew up behind me, attracted to the light, and then another, and then another. Before we knew it we were in the middle of a swarm of insects. Before dashing for cover I quickly turned on my recorder, which was sitting on its tripod, and recorded the inside of the swarm. I had just witnessed an event which wouldn’t have happened in that time and place if I hadn’t been there; sometimes our mere presence is enough to change things. This is reminiscent of the Hawthorne Effect from psychology, where studying a subject results in modifying the individual’s behaviour. (The study of workers at the Hawthorne Works, which gave the phenomenon its name, was even about the effect of lighting changes on activity.) In the context of Biome, the occurrence I experienced is a microcosm of the influence humankind has on the natural world. It is impossible for us to not have an impact, but it is up to us to moderate it and try to ensure a peaceful co-existence with nature. This recording of the high frequency beating of thousands of wings and the wing flaps of individuals who flew right up to (and bashed into) the microphones became the source for this song. A drumkit was created by layering individual insect sounds. Lush, harmonic strings were created by repeating many tiny grains of these recordings. A pulsatile alarm was made by sending the insect sounds through a Metasonix distortion unit feeding back into itself. As such we hear the insects acting as individuals and also swarming as one. This the unsettling warning sound of an event that is wholly the result of an interaction between nature and humankind."

Split into two sections - Pre-Anthropocene and Anthropocene - Biome tells its story with vast sonic ecosystems of molecular detail. Opening to the sounds of bird call, faint monkey hollers and the gentle crackling of mist-enshrouded trees, the album sets its tone with an archetypal impression of the jungle; one of instant familiarity. This is then expanded on across eight tracks, with the first four offering an abstract meditation on the marvels of nature, and the remainder of the album presenting a sonic vision of human interference - more chaotic and complicated than before.

The resulting work is a debut album that considers extensive themes by weaving these rare recordings into a remarkably coherent sonic blueprint. Biome resonates as both an affecting listening experience and a thematic exploration of the changing world we inhabit.