Photo Credit: Jan St. Werner / Instagram
Jan St. Werner, one half of German experimental electronic duo Mouse on Mars, is set to return with a new solo record, Squares Will Fall, arriving November 13 via Thrill Jockey. The three-track release continues Werner’s long-running interest in pushing electronic music into increasingly abstract territory, while bringing together an unusually broad collection of musicians from across experimental, indie and electronic music.
At the centre of the release is the title track, which features vocals and lyrics from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. The piece has an unusually long history: Werner created a 30-minute electronic composition called ‘Squares Will Fall’ in 2012 as a birthday gift for a friend. It subsequently evolved into an improvisational collaboration between Werner and Vernon during the sessions for Mouse on Mars’ Dimensional People at Vernon’s Wisconsin studio.
The piece kept evolving over the next decade. In 2021, Werner adapted it into a live Ural Industrial Biennial sound installation, moving suspended speakers during the performance to alter the room’s acoustics. Its recorded version broadens this collaboration. Beside Vernon, ‘Squares Will Fall’ includes drummer Kid Millions, Beirut’s Zach Condon (trumpet), Ben Lanz (trombone), Andi Toma (bass, mixing), and musicians Mats Gustafsson, Hilary Jeffery, Kyle Resnick, Johan Berthling, and Jeremy Ylvisaker.
The album also includes ‘Swamp Brains,’ a stripped-back track with vocalist Rosanne Rubino, and the closer ‘Flötotto,’ featuring Sufjan Stevens on drum machine alongside Ben Lanz on trombone and bass with an ensemble.
Following his 2023 solo LP Space Synthesis, the project highlights Werner’s open, experimental style across his solo work and with Mouse on Mars, incorporating spatialization, custom technology, improvisation, and live instrumentation.
