Catalogue Number: STUMM354
Release Date: 09 September 2013

Vicissitude:

1: variation or mutability in nature or life, esp successive alternation from one condition or thing to another
2: a variation in circumstance, fortune, character, etc

Maps – aka James Chapman – returns with a brand new album, Vicissitude, out on 8 July 2013.

The third album by Maps is all about changes of situation. For James Chapman – the fizzing brain behind the music – Vicissitude owes its very existence to the period of personal reflection and rearrangement that took him out of the game after the release of 2009’s Turning The Mind; a three-year phase between albums that’s clearly pushed Chapman onwards to create by far his finest work to date.

While Turning The Mind swung like a hedonistic after-party held after Maps’ debut We Can Create’s Mercury Prize nomination, Vicissitude has the distinct feeling of digging deep and confronting reality head on. And in each of those cases, with Chapman the sole creative force behind the music, any Maps album is defined entirely by where his head was at during the recording process.

"The whole album is about change;" says Chapman. "It’s about dealing with a struggle – whatever that may be – and ultimately coming through it."

As with previous releases, the new album was primarily recorded at Maps’ home, and was mixed by Ken Thomas (Sugarcubes, M83, Sigur Ros) and Jolyon Thomas.

Vicissitude focuses, tightens and sharpens Maps’ expansive sound. The album might have been born from a long period of self-contemplation, but maybe you do need a while to get simple answers to the difficult questions.

Time to face the light.

1. A.M.A.
2. Built to Last
3. You Will Find a Way
4. I Heard Them Say
5. Nicholas
6. Vicissitude
7. Left Behind
8. This Summer
9. Insignificant Others
10. Adjusted to the Darkness