Artist Hannah Peel on Mercury Prize Shortlisted Album 'Fir Wave'

Hannah Peel's 'Fir Wave' was recently announced as one of the shortlisted albums for Hyundai Mercury Prize's 'Album of the Year'. The album is a reworking of a 2019 KPM album which, in itself, is a reimagining of KPM's 'Electrosonic' from 1972. This is the first time an album with its origins in a production music library has been shortlisted.

Ahead of the awards on Thursday, Hannah Peel discusses the inspiration behind the album:

Q> Describe the writing process behind ‘Fir Wave’

​Hannah> Through a process of re-sampling and generating my own new digital instruments from the original music of the celebrated 1972 KPM 1000 series: Electrosonic (the music of Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop) allowed fresh inspiration from those pioneering, experimental electronics in the early 1970s. 

It was a joy to create an entirely new record from this sounds mixed in with my own voice, moog synths and field recordings. 

Q> What were your inspirations when making the record?

Hannah> Making connections to patterns that mirror the Earth’s ecological cycles from electronic music. From wave forms - to the wave regenerations on Fir covered mountainsides caused by the wind!

Q> What is your favourite track on the album & why?

Hannah> Emergence in Nature. I wanted to create a track that celebrated lots of motion, life and colour. It was made during the first 2020 lockdown, a track to dance to when on my own inside, an antidote to what was happening - celebrating the natural world again we were all observing with no traffic/noise pollution in the way. I felt it was important for the album to be released in the Spring of 2020 when colour and dancing were needed after the winter lockdowns.

Q> What was it like being nominated for the Mercury Prize?

Hannah> I'm so honoured, plus shocked, that it has been listened to and recognised. This record was self-released and with its connection to nature and its unique history, it feels like it was written to recognise the quieter voices in electronic music, the ones that may not have been heard in the past. I'm so happy that more people will get to listen to it. 

The original KPM album 'Fir Wave' is available to license via www.emipm.com.