Particle Kid and Daniel Lanois announce The Ocean Floor
Particle Kid and Daniel Lanois have announced their first full-length collaboration, The Ocean Floor, for 26 February 2027. The 11-song album grew from ten days of work at Lanois’ Los Angeles studio. Its first release, Even the Birds, arrives with a Micah Nelson-directed video, ahead of concerts beginning in Los Angeles the day after the album.
Arts··Morning
A first album together in February
Particle Kid, the music project of Micah Nelson, and musician and producer Daniel Lanois have announced The Ocean Floor, their first full-length album together. Loosegroove Records, the label associated with Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, is releasing its 11 songs on 26 February 2027. Even the Birds has already been released as the opening single, accompanied by a video Nelson directed.[1], [2]
Moog equipment, synthesizers and drum machines form the electronic foundation of Even the Birds. Nelson traces the song to a day off during a 2023 tour with the Flaming Lips. He watched a bird fly from underneath a bridge and settle in a nearby tree, having expected it to disappear into the distance. He associates that small journey with the song’s idea of remaining where one is.[1]
Ten days at Bella Vista
The collaborators worked for ten days at Bella Vista, Lanois’ studio in the Silver Lake neighbourhood of Los Angeles in the United States. Their recordings were joined by Particle Kid bassist Aroyn Day and percussionist Kyle Crane, a longtime Lanois collaborator. Bassist Daryl Johnson also contributed, alongside recording engineer Gerardo Ordonez and co-producer Wayne Lorenz. Acoustic and electric instruments sit alongside the electronic layers.[1]
Nelson describes the album’s imagined setting as people fleeing a privatised world towards an ocean floor that calls to them through dreams. In his account, that setting gives the songs a way to seek hope amid sorrow. It is the artist’s explanation of the work’s themes, which also draw on his concerns about technology, corporate power and the condition of the modern world.[1], [2]
Concerts follow the album release
The release plan excludes Spotify and Amazon Music, while including Bandcamp, other digital services, vinyl and CD. Nelson has said he intends future Particle Kid releases to go through Flow, a forthcoming creator-owned platform whose founding board includes him. The announced concerts begin at Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles on 27 February 2027, followed by performances in Joshua Tree, Portland, Seattle, Dallas and Tulsa.[1]
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