Conceived during the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and recorded at his home studio in New York, initial sessions for the solo project offered Clarke an opportunity to experiment with different textures and explore the more abstract, ambient aspects of electronic music.

As evidenced in his newly released lead single – “The Lamentations Of Jeremiah” - Clarke’s latest studio effort sees him tackle the Eurorack – a modular synthesiser format known for its limitless configurations. The first taster of what looks set to be a particularly somber record features composer Reed Hays performing a haunting cello line over ominous Eurorack-generated synth drones. 

Watch the official video for “The Lamentations Of Jeremiah”, directed by Ebru Yıldız, below:

“When I first heard the song, I felt like it contained a whole lifetime within itself,” says Ebru, whose pensive, black-and-white shots of Clarke in an old house portray a brooding musician in various states of contemplation. “All of the drama and peace, anxiousness and calmness, tension and hope, and everything in between. I wanted the visuals to feel like all those extremes as well.”

For the writing process of the album, Clarke followed two rules: firstly, each song would be composed using the Eurorack, and secondly, each track would stay within a single key, with one note pervading throughout. Adhering to these limitations helped the “Just Can’t Get Enough” hitmaker tap into a creative flow that eventually blossomed into a fully-fledged album.

“I could have gone on forever, I could have not stopped,” Clarke said of his creative process in a press statement. “I was enjoying the process so much and wasn’t thinking about anyone else hearing it. But hearing it develop in my studio, in my head, learning new tricks — that’s been the best thing about this. I was in a state of shock, actually, when Mute said they wanted to release this album.”

Songs Of Silence is out November 17 on Mute and available for pre-order here.

So here’s that Radio 2 Live at Home line-up in full!

Featuring
Classic Hyde Park sets
New sets from @SherylCrow, @nilerodgers @CHICorg @RebeccaFMusic, @CraigDavid, @erasureinfo, @RealSirTomJones, @thekillers, @johnlegend, @mcflymusic, @GregoryPorter, @ThePretendersHQ pic.twitter.com/TnRTlvMQhT

— BBC Radio 2 (@BBCRadio2) September 1, 2020

The festival will take place over the weekend of September 12/13. All the sets will be available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer. Throughout the weekend there will also be highlights shows and compilation footage, and furthermore, special BBC Red Button content. After this, the footage will be available for another month.

On Saturday, the live hosts include Fearne Cotton and Rylan Clark-Neal. Sunday’s sets will be presented by Trevor Nelson, Sara Cox and Zoe Ball. A detailed line-up is available in the tweet below.

The UK acts will film their performances at Radio 2’s Live At Home stage which is somewhere in the British countryside. American performers will stream their sets from remote locations; rumour has it that The Killers’ set takes place on the roof of a Las Vegas hotel, and Nile Rodgers and co. will be live in Central Park, New York.  British synth pop duo Erasure will perform live from either side of the Atlantic!

In addition to new sets, the other ‘headliners’ will be compiled of some of the best previous performances from earlier years. These will be available on iPlayer in the lead up to the event. They include Elton John, The Pet Shop Boys, Take That and Kylie Minogue. BBC Radio 2 have shared a teaser clip from Elton John’s “spellbinding” 2016 set – watch it below!

“And you can tell everybody this is your song…” You can now re-live @eltonofficial‘s spellbinding Hyde Park set as part of Radio 2 Live at Home. Watch on @BBCiPlayer. Listen on @BBCSounds. pic.twitter.com/e8KMGbfsKB — BBC Radio 2 (@BBCRadio2) September 1, 2020

Speaking about Radio 2 Live at Home, Craig David says: “Whilst we can’t party in person, we can have a house party for Radio 2 Live at Home.” Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders adds that, “After months in lockdown, come rain or shine, we are so happy to be able to perform in the glorious British outdoors for Radio 2 Live at Home!”

The Head of Music for Radio 2, Jeff Smith, had this to say about the newly digital festival: “Radio 2 Live At Home will celebrate some of our favourite artists performing in the great outdoors, as well as offering the opportunity to relive some classic sets from our Festival in a Day from years gone by. Who wouldn’t want to relive Jeff Lynne’s amazement at 55,000 people singing along as ELO performed their first full set in 27 years, or Kylie’s impromptu reunion with Jason Donovan on stage for a unique performance of Especially for You.”