Bicep fans can finally look forward to an album, and can even whet their appetite with a track in the meantime. The Belfast, Northern Ireland house duo consisting of Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar unveiled “Aura” from their self-titled debut effort alongside the announcement that it will come out on Ninja Tune on September 1st.
In true Bicep fashion, the sound design aesthetic of “Aura” celebrates the raw, robotic timbre of synths themselves. Where much of the duo’s music favors subversive sonic imagery, however, a soaring melody on the song’s high end gives it a distinctly euphoric quality.
Prior to its release, “Aura” had become a favorite among Bicep’s rapidly growing following – some of whom recorded an ID of it from live sets and gave it the working title “Unreleased Bicep.” The duo themselves expressed a fondness for how the track came together. They told Mixmag, “We’d been playing with this specific and very complicated gear-chain for a while but nothing worked, or didn’t feel musical enough… then it all just fell into place and ‘Aura’ appeared.”
Bicep have also added a slew of tour dates to their calendar to coincide with the release of their album. Find a full list of dates here, and a tracklist for the upcoming effort below.
1. Orca
2 .Glue
3. Kites
4. Vespa
5. Ayaya
6. Spring
7. Drift
8. Opal
9. Rain
10. Ayr
11. Vale
12. Aura
