Jan St. Werner, AKA one-half of the German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, has a new solo record on the way. Squares Will Fall, due out November 13 on Thrill Jockey, features contributions from Sufjan Stevens, Justin Vernon, Beirut’s Zach Condon, the National’s Ben Lanz, and more. You can listen to an excerpt of the title track, which Vernon contributed lyrics and vocals to, below.
As a Bandcamp bio explains, the genesis of “Squares Will Fall” dates back to 2012, when Werner recorded a 30-minute version of the piece to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday. Over the years, it evolved into “the foundation for an improvisation by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Jan St. Werner during Mouse on Mars’s Dimensional People sessions at Vernon’s studio in Wisconsin.” In 2021, Werner also presented “Squares Will Fall” as a live performance piece at the Ural Industrial Biennial. Different parts of the composition played through speakers that “were suspended via long ropes from the circus ceiling and were continuously repositioned by the performers, becoming active participants in the mixing process.”
The larger tracklist includes two more songs: “Swamp Brains,” which features singer Rosanne Rubino, and “Flötotto,” on which Stevens plays the drum machine and Lanz handles trombone and bass. Werner’s most recent solo release, Space Synthesis, arrived in 2023.
Read Philip Sherburne’s review of Mouse on Mars’ 2021 album AAI.
Squares Will Fall:
01 Squares Will Fall
02 Swamp Brains
03 Flötotto