Released on:
Alice in Ultraland
The World is Full of Plankton
Runtime: 6:18
Seemingly developed out of the ‘Divinity‘ sessions – sharing vocals and brass with the original, and even listed as ‘Divinity’ in its performance at the Arvika festival – and initially named ‘The Otherness’, ‘The Emptiness of Nothingness’ is a fine example of how closely tied The Isness and Alice in Ultraland are.
Led by piano and wailing wordless vocals, the track is a bold opening statement. In the words of Stone Freshwaters: “it has to be epic, it has to be sonic, it has to sound like a band at the height of its game but also a band who use the studio technology as the ultimate Gizmo. More than this it has to create a profound bang but no explosion… in other words it can’t give the game away… immediately!” It certainly fulfils all of these expectations: a minute long build-up, the main musical section, a breakdown and back into the main theme again. There’s also lots going on in the background: swirling organs, electronic noises, a flute loop that comes and goes occasionally, all placed into the track in the way the usual unidentifiable samples would be included in an FSOL track. In contrast, the presence of Tim Weller on drums makes the track feel far less electronic overall, and more like the work of an actual band.
The final minute builds down with a guitar loop, electronic noises, organs and flutes, increasingly divorced from the main track into what feels very much like a closing environment, which then crossfades into the next track.
Credits
Written by Cobain/Dougans/M. Rowe (Alice in Ultraland).
Produced by The Future Sound of London (Alice in Ultraland).
Written and produced by the Amorphous Androgynous (The World is Full of Plankton).
Engineered by Stone Freshwaters and One Man Band of Cosmos.
Additional recordings at the Mikey Rowe Sound Laboratory, engineered by Mikey Rowe.
Cobain/Dougans: Sounds, vocals, guitars, synths, FX twists, soundPROK.
Mikey Rowe: Piano, hammond.
Stu Rowe: Electric guitar
Tim Weller: Drums.
Ben Owen: Flute.
The Electric Gospel Choir: Female vocals.
Fractional Difference 