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‘Real Life’ – the 360 degree binaural album from Frequent Traveller, aka electronic producer Steve Spiro (Talk Talk, Pet Shop Boys) – is out now.
Utilising technology which enabled Spiro to record sounds just as the human ear would have heard them at the time, the producer has spent the last couple of years travelling around the world, capturing surround-sound field recordings of his encounters & incorporating them into music. Designed specifically for headphone listening, the project transports the listener around the world in 360-degree binaural sound (similar to 8D audio, only more responsive to depth and height positioning). The recent video for ‘The Devil’s Trying To Break Us Down’ – made using field recordings from Venice Beach – is streaming now and can be viewed in our video box, with ‘Real Life’ now available in full from here: https://slinky.to/FTRealLife.
In a time when opportunities to travel are scarce, the latest Frequent Traveller project is an invitation to escape around the world with just your headphones. Talking about the ‘Real Life’ album, Steve says: “I’ve travelled the world and recorded sounds in various locations on the planet. Marrakech, Mexico, New York, LA, India, Cannes, Barcelona, Brazil, Jamaica and London. In each of the destinations, I went into the cities, towns and villages and recorded environments and the local inhabitants. Passing through crowds of people, in fleeting moments of time, I captured the drama, comedy and sometimes the irony of real life as it unfolded. A cast of thousands shape the script and scenes.”
‘Real Life’ is a 13-track collection that allows the listener to soak up the roar of crowds at a football stadium in Brazil, snake-charmers and drums on the cobbled alleys of Marrakesh, the bustle of Jamaica’s towns & countryside, and old-time buskers and rival gang banter on a late night subway train through New York City. The songs themselves deal in eclectic sounds that, given the global nature of the time, span a far-reaching tapestry of everything from hip-hop, house, dub and experimental e lectro to hypnotic drones and minimalist, ambient soundscapes.
About Frequent Traveller/Steve Spiro
Steve Spiro has had an eclectic career and spent decades earning his stripes in the music industry. In the mid-80s he was an acclaimed record producer and remixer who worked with artists such as Pet Shop Boys, Talk Talk, Imagination and The Farm. He also had several club hits between 1988-93 under the name Four To The Floor and in 1996 scored the chart-hitting BBC theme tune for the Atlanta Olympics. Now, he’s also the founder and creative director of award-winning music supervision house, Felt Music. The Frequent Traveller project sees Steve fuse his knowledge and skills in the world of music with his deep love of travelling. Where Steve’s self-titled 2011 release under the Frequent Traveller moniker was a real-time soundtrack of his commute from London to Sussex, the new project debuted with ‘Real Life – using Sennheiser’s ground-breaking AMBEO binaural sound technology – sees him take us on a journey around the globe in game-changing, 360-degree sound.