Aphex Twin releases two new songs and shares beach photo with girlfriend

The experience of being an Aphex Twin fan can be quite unpredictable and varied. At times, Richard D. James provides us with carefully curated releases, such as last year’s Selected Ambient Works reissue. Other times, we are treated to raw and unpolished tracks that are simply dumped onto the internet with random filenames. This was the case on Thanksgiving when James surprised fans by uploading two versions of a track titled “Zahl am1” to his SoundCloud account.

The title “Zahl am1” is a nod to the Zähl soundboard that James used to mix the track. The artwork that accompanies both versions of the track features a photo of the electronic music pioneer at the beach in Italy, alongside a woman who Reddit detectives have identified as filmmaker Cordelia Angel Clarke.

In the description on SoundCloud, James mentioned that he had received many requests for this particular track from a few years back. He shared that the photo accompanying the upload was taken in Italy, and he expressed a desire for the sun as it had been relentlessly raining in the UK. James also mentioned that he had mixed the track down on the Zähl soundboard, suggesting that there may be better mixes that he will upload if he finds them.

It’s worth noting that James ended his sentence with a comma in the description. Of course, such unconventional grammar is to be expected from someone like Aphex Twin. The track itself can be listened to on SoundCloud.

The unpredictability and excitement of the Aphex Twin fan experience is part of what makes being a fan of his work so thrilling. Whether it’s a carefully curated release or a spontaneous upload of unreleased material, fans are always eager to hear what James has in store for them next. And with the promise of potentially finding better mixes of “Zahl am1,” fans can look forward to even more surprises from the electronic music pioneer in the future.