LS001 by Common Factors

Innovative DJ and producer Alexander Church is branching out with Life Scripts, a new off-shoot of his Configurations of Self label that will be focussed on electronica, breakbeat, and ambient sounds. It kicks off in fine style with a new EP from Common Factors aka Church and frequent collaborator James Welsh.

Alexander Church is an adventurous artist who has been in the scene since the mid-nineties. He has made everything from melodic soundscapes to industrial techno under a range of aliases and always draws inspiration from his own deep thinking and desire to tell a personal story. Former post-punk band member Welsh is just as free-roaming, having made everything from bass to techno on labels like Futureboogie and Phantasy Sound. They have long been working together on some of techno's most interesting projects. All the music by Common Factors will be centered around certain analog instruments by Erica Synths with this first one using the Erica Synths Syntrx and the Sky Dada system.

Alexander Church on the theory behind the label: "We create stories about our lives, what they have been, and what they will be. This starts in childhood where we weave our perceptions of ourselves and of the world around us into a narrative about what we can and will do. These life scripts then continue to have a deep and unconscious effect on how we live our lives. They shape our self-image, and yet we seldom realize where they come from and are often unaware that they exist at all. Our life scripts are often encouraged and shaped by parents and other family members, whose life scripts were shaped by their parents, and so on. In this way, we become a product of our family's history. Likewise, our scripts are also woven by cultural and national forces. Life scripts are not all the same as they may also be significantly affected by individual events, such as being criticized by a teacher or bullied by other children. Life scripts can be very detailed and they can be very vague. They can be very empowering, yet they can also severely limit our lives."

The EP opens with six minutes of dreamy breakbeat action on "Five Clusters", a track that is lit up with glistening synth lines and whirring bass, alien sound effects, and bubbling pads that make it all the more absorbing. "Modelling" is a subtly uplifting affair with old-school post-rave energy, heavenly melodies, and glistening FX all powered by dusty breaks. The brilliant "Disparaging Patterns" is more intense, with a darker atmosphere and tightly woven drums, percussion, bass, and synth lines all warping and wrapping around each other to hypnotic effect. Lastly, "Junctions" is a celestial piece of melodic electronica with ever-evolving lines and shifting chords suspending you in a sea of synth bliss.

Common Factors - LS001
Release Date January 2021
Label Life Scripts

Tracklist
1. Five Clusters
2. Modelling
3. Disparaging Patterns
4. Junctions