Lorn returns with a new full-length album, his debut on Ninja Tune, and it’s a huge stride forward since Nothing Else (released on Brainfeeder, June 2010). Listening back to his first album, Lorn says it now seems “cold and strict.” Ask The Dust, on the other hand, is “haunted, oily, smeared,” and with this description he captures something of the intensely felt, visceral aliveness of the music. If Lorn began h...

Lorn returns with a new full-length album, his debut on Ninja Tune, and it’s a huge stride forward since Nothing Else (released on Brainfeeder, June 2010). Listening back to his first album, Lorn says it now seems “cold and strict.” Ask The Dust, on the other hand, is “haunted, oily, smeared,” and with this description he captures something of the intensely felt, visceral aliveness of the music.

If Lorn began his musical career as a poet of alienation, then Ask The Dust (named after the 1939 proto-Beat classic novel of the same name by John Fante) sees his music develop a more human energy. In particular, the use of his own singing voice (a process which began on the last track of Nothing Else, “What’s The Use”), which has added a new dimension to his often crunching and brutal but never less than beautiful electronic music.

Since the release of Nothing Else, Lorn has toured the world alongside the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs, Amon Tobin, and GonjaSufi to name a few. He became a devout owner of a B5 A4, and much like his dedication to music and art, wasted no time tearing it apart in order to learn how to put it all back together again. Ask The Dust suggests he’s learnt to do much the same with his emotions.