Name: New Decade
Brand: Phew

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

A 56056

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Colour

Clear

Colour details

Total Clear Vinyl

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Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2021-10-22

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

WEA /­ ADA

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

5400863056056

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / clear

CD 56063

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Extended format: No

5400863056063

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "5400863056063"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Phew

Genre US

Experimental / Avant-Garde / Industrial / Noise

Label US

Mute

Phew is a Japanese avant-garde vocalist who has made significant contributions to the music industry. She began her career as a member of the legendary punk band Aunt Sally. In 1980, she collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto on the single Shukyoku, showcasing her diverse musical abilities.

In 1981, Phew joined forces with the members of Can to create the album Phew, further establishing herself as an innovative artist. After taking some time off, she embarked on a recording project with former members of DAF and Neubauten, demonstrating her versatility and willingness to explore new artistic avenues.

Throughout her career, Phew has released two albums in collaboration with Anton Fier, Bill Laswell, and other talented musicians. Currently active in various projects such as Novo Tono, Phew Unit (a duo with Seiichi Yamamoto), and Big Picture; she continues to push boundaries and captivate audiences worldwide.

Rising to prominence with the art-punk group Aunt Sally before her first solo release in 1981 – recorded at Conny Plank’s studio in Cologne with Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit – Phew isn’t about to go soft on us. “I wanted to exclude sentimentality,” she says of New Decade. "With the situation at the moment, I’ve got it lucky. Last year, in particular, just being alive was kind of a lucky state of affairs. Being able to openly express how you’re feeling, in spite of all that, is a sort of privilege you have as a musician or artist, and I felt like I shouldn’t abuse it.”

This has been a guiding principle for Phew in recent years as she has amassed a body of solo work that melds her signature vocals with febrile, droning synthesizers and drum machines. Already well accustomed to working in isolation at home, keeping her voice down in order not to annoy the neighbors, New Decade is a stark and haunted album, populated by voices that intone empty pleasantries in English and Japanese or manifest as wordless shrieks and groans against a backdrop of fractured, dubbed-out electronics.

Phew explains that there’s a loose concept running through the album relating to the perception of time. “During the ’80s, and up until the ’90s, things progressed along a line from past to present to future, but I think that’s changed, especially since the start of the 21st century. Personally speaking, I’ve stopped being able to see a future that extends from the present.”

This is reflected in the unplaceable character of her current work. It’s not deliberately retro in the manner of many analog synth revivalists, nor does Phew waste time trying to catch up with the latest trends. It’s music out of time, resonating to its own peculiar frequency.