A penguin stands in the middle of a scorching desert, far away from its natural habitat. This mirrors composer Arthur Jeffes’ journey and exploration into a new musical territory. Penguin Cafe have evolved into something of their own at the hands of Arthur who started the band in 2009 with the continuation and homage to his father’s legacy, to the late Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Now, their upcoming album The Imperfect Sea echoes reminiscent sounds that embrace the new. The album title refers to a saying by his father that “we wade in a sea of imperfections…”, reflecting upon the idea that beauty can be found amongst the chaos. “If there is a narrative to the album it’s coming to the acceptance of the imperfections in all aspects of life; moreover, the recognition that these imperfections and tiny randomnesses are in fact what make up the best parts”, Arthur explains.

Predominantly self-composed, the new album also features covers of electronic works by Simian Mobile Disco and Kraftwerk, along with a re-working of Simon’s Now Nothing. Arthur has developed from the traditional folk and jazz heritage Penguin Cafe Orchestra is known for into another realm of blissful ambience and dance music, recreated using strictly acoustic elements. “For this album I wanted to effect a departure from where we’d been up to now. The idea was to create a musical world that would feel familiar to an audience more used to dance records but stay true to our own values. So we replaced electronic layers with real instruments: pads with real string sections, synths with heavily-effected pianos, and atmospheric analogue drones with real feedback loops ringing through a stone and a piano soundboard.”

'The Imperfect Sea' is an Erased Tapes Records release.

1. RICECAR (04:34)

2. CANTORUM (07:23)

3. CONTROL 1 (INTERLUDE) (06:57)

4. FRANZ SCHUBERT (05:46)

5. HALF CERTAINTY (02:31)

6. PROTECTION (05:22)

7. RESCUE (06:29)

8. NOW NOTHING (ROCK MUSIC) (04:38)

9. WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS (06:20)

Release date: 5 May 2017