Aphex Twin made an unexpected return to SoundCloud on November 27th, uploading two fresh cuts: ‘Zahl am1 live track 1’ and ‘Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd’.
Linked by near-identical titles and a recurring piano motif, the tracks seem to be alternate takes of the same idea. ‘Zahl am1 live track 1’ drifts in with a soft, understated instrumental, while the ‘c f760m1 unfinshd’ version fractures the mood with rolling breaks and skittering hi-hats.
On the upload for ‘Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd’, AFX (AKA Richard D. James) wrote: “Got many requests for this one from a few years back.” He adds that the accompanying photo was taken in Italy “with my love from Scilly recently… need sun… relentlessly raining in UK… mixed down on the zahl, think there’s better mixes, will upload if I find ’em.”
The caption for ‘Zahl am1 live track 1’ is far more minimal: simply “ambient mix.”
Listen to both new tracks below.
