Yves Tumor shares atmospheric new single ‘God is a Circle’
Yves Tumor has returned with their new single, ‘God is a Circle’. It’s the first track the American songwriter has released since 2021’s excellent The Asymptotical World EP and their recent appearance on Willow’s latest album, Coping Mechanism. A wickedly dark piece wherein the many different layers do the talking, the song is another example of why Tumor is one of the most interesting artists out there. There’s genuine style on show here, which few current artists can claim to espouse.
You never know what artistic route they’re going to take, as Yves Tumor’s meandering yet relatively short back catalogue reflects. From the impressionistic collage of 2016’s Serpent Music to the heady masterpiece of 2018’s Safe in the Hands of Love or the industrial/shoegaze mesh of The Asymptotical World, which boasted the tremendous ‘Katrina’, Tumor loves to keep us on our toes, and that’s what they’ve done with their latest offering.
While the new cut is inherently a pop song, on a deeper level, it’s also so much more. Yet again, the Florida native delivers a hypnotic vocal melody, which maintains Tumor’s claim to be one of the more exciting singers out there. The song is bolstered by a haunting sample of a woman breathing that increases the tension of the beat. Adding to this multifaceted character, a glitchy guitar fades in and out, while a droning bassline evoking The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ holds it all together. The track gradually builds to a brief yet enchanting climax, with the excitement of Yves Tumor’s future plain for all to see.
Apart from the track’s dynamics, as is customary for Yves Tumor’s work, it boasts some incredibly sharp production. It was helmed by the producer of Frank Ocean, Arcade Fire and Kanye West, Noah Goldstein. His work was then elevated by one of the greatest to ever sit in the control room, Alan Moulder, the mind behind ethereal classics such as My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, Curve’s Doppelgänger and Ride’s Going Blank Again.
As is also customary for Tumor, they drew on the help of a few familiar faces to create the piece, in the form of bandmembers Chris Greatti and Rhys Hastings, with the background vocals helped by Ecco2K and Thoom.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.