The landscape for collaborations has never been as fertile as it is now. Perhaps COVID was the catalyst that brought together so many artists from contrasting sound worlds. The tribalism of genres of the past, now melted into a collective patchwork as artists continue their quest to outmanoeuvre pastiche and, more recently, AI.
The creative alliance between Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden and William Tyler began with their 12-inch release, Darkness, Darkness in 2023 after the pair had met 10 years prior at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee. Billed as a Hail Mary by some, Hebden and Tyler’s work together isn’t as obscure as some might think. While Hebden has been at the coal face of electronica for much of this century, the lineage of post-rock began in his formative years with Fridge and has since remained in much of his works as Four Tet.
Meanwhile, Tyler’s untethered adventures over the past two decades in the deepest corners of Americana have been some of the most forward-thinking out there. His latest solo LP, Time Indefinite, a testament to that, thrusting the Nashville songwriter back to the top of Americana experimentalism.
Ahead of the release of the pair’s debut full-length, 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s, which was recorded in Los Angeles in 2022, Hebden spoke of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fennesz, AM radio stations and ’80s American country and folk music as the inspirations behind these recordings, and it’s no surprise. The warm distortion of opening gambit, the Lyle Lovett cover of If I Had a Boat, an accurate assessment.
Like watching a sunrise in slow motion, Tyler begins If I Had a Boat by picking up where he left off earlier in the year with Time Indefinite. Pulling apart the original version with the scratching soundscapes of AM radio, it’s beautiful nostalgia that graciously fills the ears. Alongside Hebden’s subtle inflections, it’s one of those emotive high watermarks that both have been responsible for over the years, and as Tyler eventually takes the reins with the kind of melodic meandering that imbues confidence, the shackles are off, and everything is free.
Kieran Hebden + William Tyler - 41 Longfield Street Late ’80sOn Spider Ballad, it’s Hebden’s turn to assert himself. A contrast to the vast landscapes one pictures during If I Had a Boat, Hebden guides Tyler from these pastoral locales to the edge of the dance floor with cerebral electronica the reveals extra layers every time it meets the ear.
From here, 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s unfolds with the pair communicating their own creative language to each other, and it’s these dispatches that grow closer together as time passes. The droning feedback of I Want an Antenna, leaking into When it Rains where Tyler begins with a forlorn passage of roadhouse-inspired Americana, only to be thwarted by Hebden’s discordant wall of noise that sees the song come to an abrupt halt.
A stark contrast to Timber, as Tyler’s soft plinking and Hebden’s cosmic fairy dust combine for something akin to a lullaby. And following the fuzzy interlude of Loretta Guides My Hands Through the Radio, Secret City could be considered an extension of said lullaby. Providing the perfect bookend to If I Had Boat, Tyler’s cosmic wanderings evoke defiance. That walk into the sunset not billed as the end but in fact only the beginning, and with Hebden’s deft flourishes dotted throughout the mix, the collaboration is complete.
Prior to release of 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s, Tyler spoke of recontextualising the music both he and Hebden grew up with. In many ways, these recordings see the pair doing just that with each other’s work, proving fascinating on two counts. Firstly, whether they’ll work together again; and secondly, what kind of mark this collaboration will leave on their respective works in the future. One could see Hebden, in particular, venturing down new paths, while 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s sees Tyler not just capping off his most fruitful year in over a decade, but his best one yet.
41 Longfield Street Late ’80s is out now via Eat Your Own Ears Recordings / Temporary Residence. Purchase from Bandcamp.
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[…] This latest one, equally as difficult to pull together as the last, which is why it may not be the final one for 2025 – another mooted for the beginning of December before the final weeks are dominated with our End of Year features. This latest edition could have almost doubled what has been covered, and that’s not including those who have already been written about in isolation, including Bitchin Bajas, Immersion and Kieran Hebden + William Tyler. […]