Holly Herndon, the acclaimed Berlin-based artist, performer and composer, has released ‘Eternal – Re-imagined’, a new version of the original track from her groundbreaking 2019 album PROTO.
Released as the album’s first single, ‘Eternal’ was a bold introduction to the concept of PROTO, which used A.I. program ‘Spawn’ as a member of the ensemble alongside a Berlin-based choir. Remixed and re-orchestrated by renowned composers Vince Pope and Alex Davies, ‘Eternal – Reimagined’ offers a fresh take on the intelligent ‘pop anthem’ (The Guardian).
Of the reworked track, Vince Pope says: “I first saw Holly Herndon perform at the Barbican Centre in 2023 and was immediately captivated by her performance and her music. It felt like something very fresh and innovative – which isn’t always easy to find in today’s world. I became fascinated by her approach and the embrace of AI in creating something on the fringes of electronica and avant-garde music. I approached Holly to re-imagine and re-orchestrate ‘Eternal’, using the vocals but going in an almost opposite direction by arranging the piece for string orchestra. And in doing so hopefully coming full circle to achieve something totally unique and new.”
Praise for ‘Eternal’
“It’s blurry and disorienting: a collage of eyes, ears, and mouths materializing in front of the camera, soundtracked by one of the most direct melodies Herndon has ever composed.” – Pitchfork on ‘Eternal’
“Machine-R&B masterpiece.” – The Guardian on ‘Eternal’
Holly Herndon – ‘Eternal – Re-imagined’
PROTO makes reference to what Holly refers to as the protocol era, where rapidly surfacing ideological battles over the future of A.I. protocols, centralised and decentralised internet protocols, and personal and political protocols compel us to ask ourselves who are we, what are we, what do we stand for, and what are we heading towards?
For PROTO, Holly Herndon assembled a contemporary ensemble of vocalists, developers and an inhuman intelligence housed in a DIY souped-up gaming PC to create a record that encompasses live vocal processing and timeless folk singing, and places an emphasis on alien song craft and new forms of communion.
You can hear traces of Spawn throughout the album, developed in partnership with long time collaborator Mathew Dryhurst and ensemble developer Jules LaPlace, and even eavesdrop on the live training ceremonies conducted in Berlin, in which hundreds of people were gathered to teach Spawn how to identify and reinterpret unfamiliar sounds in group call-and-response singing sessions; a contemporary update on the religious gathering Holly was raised amongst in her upbringing in East Tennessee.
“There’s a pervasive narrative of technology as dehumanizing,” says Holly in 2019. “We stand in contrast to that. It’s not like we want to run away; we’re very much running towards it, but on our terms. Choosing to work with an ensemble of humans is part of our protocol. I don’t want to live in a world in which humans are automated off stage. I want an A.I. to be raised to appreciate and interact with that beauty.”
Especially relevant now in an era where Artificial Intelligence has recently come to the forefront of popular culture and is increasingly influencing much social and political development, PROTO stands strong as a euphoric and principled statement setting the shape of things to come.
Vince Pope is an Ivor Novello and Bafta Award award-winning composer and pianist, renowned for his distinctive fusion of sophisticated neo-classical melodies and seamlessly crafted electronics. His music has been featured in acclaimed series such as True Detective, Black Mirror Misfits and the acclaimed feature Tigers Are Not Afraid. His artist releases have seen collaborations with artists such as Sophie Hutchings, Nat Bartsch, Lambert and many more.
From 2020 until present Alex Davies has been writing contemporary classical/cinematic music releasing under the pseudonyms WideEyed and ‘Goldbæk’, both artist-led projects surpassing over 100 million streams. In addition Alex has spent over a decade writing for artists including co-writing Kodaline’s hit single ‘Brother’ and France’s heavily synced emotional song ‘Grow’.
Praise for PROTO
“So invigorating” – The Guardian ****
“PROTO is Herndon’s most technologically adventurous work to date, but it is also by far her most ecstatically humanistic.” – Pitchfork
“Powerful… A notable work of art.” – The Skinny *****
“Both bewildering and beautiful.” – The Line of Best Fit
“An album of dizzying, spiritual, science-fact beauty and bracing beats.” – The Observer
“Remarkable, futuristic and otherworldly, but brimming with character.” – The Times ****
“Unearthly but still organic.” – Now Then Magazine
“PROTO is as avant-garde as we’ve come to expect from Herndon’s wild and mighty brain, tempered by plenty of beauty and harmony.” – DJ Mag
ABOUT HOLLY HERNDON
Since her arrival in 2012, Holly Herndon has successfully mined the edges of electronic and Avant Garde pop and emerged with a dynamic and disruptive canon of her own. Born in the mountains of East Tennessee, she went from singing in church to enrolling in a German exchange program. Adopting Berlin as a second home, she cut her teeth performing in the city’s clubs prior to attending Mills College. She utilized the laptop as “the most intimate instrument”, cultivating live voice processing systems and developing custom vocal patches to construct experimental pieces performed in real-time. She put those pieces into play on the likes of ‘Breathe’ and ‘Dilato’ from her full-length debut, Movement.
Researching platform politics for her phD at Stanford, she assembled her 2015 sophomore offering Platform. Telematic performance at Stanford fuelled ‘DAO’ and integrated custom sampling of daily activities online into the songcraft of ‘Chorus’ and ‘Home’. As it sparked commentary on ‘platform politics’, Platform closed out 2015 by gracing year-end lists from Pitchfork, The Guardian, NME, and The Wire. Primarily composed alongside collaborators online, it was “the first commercially released album to include a track intended to trigger autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)”. Following the release, Radiohead handpicked her to open for their European tour.
In 2019, she broke ground again on her third full-length, PROTO, fronting and conducting an electronic pop choir comprised of both human and A.I. voices over a musical palette that encompasses everything from synths to Sacred Harp stylings. CNN says Holly is “shaping the future of A.I.” as she operates at the nexus of technological evolution and musical catharsis.
Since the release of PROTO, Holly Herndon has further developed her art practice with AI technologies with collaborator Mat Dryhurst, such as on digital art piece Holly+, Whitney Biennnial project xhairymutantx and recent Serpentine exhibition The Call.
HOLLY HERNDON ONLINE
Twitter & Facebook: @hollyherndon
Instagram: @holly_herndon
