Rural Tapes releases new single 'Lingering Souls' ft. Gary Olson
Rural Tapes has released his brand new single ‘Lingering Souls’, a jubilant iridescent slice of 60s inspired pop featuring The Ladybug Transistor’s Gary Olson on vocals. Listen here. The song is the latest to be taken from Oneiric, the upcoming fourth album from Rural Tapes out October 17th via Clay Pipe Music. Pre-order here.
Regarding the new single Rural Tapes says, “I don't tend to make pop songs very often, but early in the process with this track it was clear that this one needed vocals. Gary is a good friend, a fantastic songwriter, lyricist and one of my all-time favourite singers. I’ve been wanting to have Gary sing on one of my songs for a long time, and this was the perfect fit for him.”
Continuing about the collaboration Gary Olsen says, “I provided trumpet on previous Rural Tapes recordings so I was very familiar with his universe... and he has also provided drums for some of my solo work. Collaborating on vocals, melodies and lyrics was an exciting challenge. I approached it like a dragonfly hovering over the landscape he provided for me.”
The forthcoming new album Oneiric is another expansive and enthralling record from the highly acclaimed Rural Tapes moniker of Norwegian producer and multi-instrumentalist Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen.
As the title suggests Oneiric is a record for the dreamers, a trippy cosmic aural experience of largely instrumental music, recorded analogue and crafted together at his Nygrenda Vev & Dur studio in rural Norway.
The first taste of Oneiric came with lead single ‘Bird’s-Eye View’, a soaring song which dances on a smooth bassline as mellotron shimmers alongside warped synths simulating birdsong.
The sounds quickly dig deeper into the curious dreamscape of Oneiric, such as found on ‘Retire The Fool’ with Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on vocals, a minimalist echoing track which plays both welcomingly familiar yet cautiously eerie with a drone of weightless experimentation.
Meanwhile ‘Hypermnesia’ expands further with bold brass exuding optimism in a story built around the words from a lost tape where an old man talks about his first memory as a four-year-old, where he suddenly became aware of that he was a human being and that he was living in a wonderful world.
An expansive and mesmeric experience across its 12 tracks, Oneiric is wrapped up fittingly with ‘Lucid Dreaming’ a vivid piece drenched in orchestral wonderment, warped synths and a dramatic drum crescendo closing the bold creative experimentation in Oneiric with an awaking of rich clarity.
On Oneiric Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen play organs, synthesizers, piano, mellotron, drums, drum machines, percussion, field recordings, trombone, tuba, electric guitars, vocals, vocoder and tape treatment. He is joined in parts by collaborators including Alexis Taylor, Gary Olson, Kristine Tjøgersen, Lars Løberg Tofte, Marin Stallemo Bakke, Sigurd Thomassen, Silje Høgevold, Terry Edwards and Øystein Braut.
In a career which spans two decades, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen has cemented himself as a vital name from the Norwegian music scene. He has been a part of important Norwegian bands such as I Was A King and Heroes & Zeros, while more recently has been releasing records in the bi-continental jangle band The No Ones with Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey from R.E.M. and Minus 5 along with I Was A King frontman Frode Strømstad.
Launching his Rural Tapes project with the self-titled record in 2021, he solidified his status further for his inventive and progressive music. Rural Tapes is consistently met by a wealth of high praise as seen across the further studio albums including Inner Space Music (2022) and Contact (2024). He now heightens senses further with Oneiric, an album set to prove a vital record in his catalogue.
Oneiric will be available on vinyl LP, CD, and digital/streaming on October 17th 2025 via Clay Pipe Music.
ONEIRIC TRACK LISTING
A1 – NREM
A2 – Flower Lab
A3 – Retire The Fool
A4 – Hypermnesia
A5 – Eidetic Memory
B1 – Bird’s-Eye View
B2 – Woolgathering
B3 – Fantasia
B4 – Reverie
B5 – Dream Within A Dream
B6 – Lingering Souls
B7 – Lucid Dreaming
