Meow Wolf presents Tycho — the Grammy-nominated electronic music project led by primary composer Scott Hansen — unveils a wholly new iteration of sound with the release of their fifth studio album, Weather, via Mom + Pop Music x Ninja Tune.

The highly anticipated release follows 2016’s Epoch and diverges markedly from Tycho’s previous output with the introduction of vocal led tracks, while still maintaining the foundation of Hansen’s signature sound. New collaborator Hannah Cottrell, aka Saint Sinner, lends her voice to multiple tracks on the record and will join Tycho’s live band for the Weather World Tour.

“When setting out to record Weather, I wanted to finally fulfill what had been a vision of mine since the beginning: to incorporate the most organic instrument of all, the human voice,” says Hansen. “I met Hannah Cottrell, and the vocal component of the album immediately came into focus. Her vision folded effortlessly into mine and her voice integrated seamlessly into the sonic landscape, opening new spaces for me as a songwriter and producer.”

In many ways, Weather is the culmination of Tycho’s career as a whole – each prior step taken with intention to land on this new creative ground. The past 13 years have seen Tycho evolve from a part-time solo project of a graphic designer into a massively successful and world touring live band.

Longtime collaborators Zac Brown (bass/guitar) and Rory O’Connor (drums) along with touring member Billy Kim (keyboards/guitar/bass) will join Hansen on the Weather World Tour. Saint Sinner will also join the live band on all dates as the first touring vocalist with Tycho. Weather intends to reveal a more human side to the live show with the new energy of a vocalist.

GUEST ACT – COM TRUISE

“Repetition is a form of change,” reads one of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies. Seth Haley knows the concept well, and his style of technicolour synth-wave takes the mantra as a challenge — how much emotion can one man convey through his machines? Six years ago, Galactic Melt introduced space traveller Com Truise and his journey through far-flung galaxies, before mini-epics Wave 1 and Silicon Tareexpanded the story in further cosmic detail. And now Iteration concludes this sprawling saga. True to its name, the album is built on Com Truise hallmarks: neon-streaked melodies, big drums, robotic grooves, bleary nostalgia. But Iteration is also the most elegant and streamlined that Haley’s music has ever sounded.

At the album’s heart is an elaborate narrative, one full of longing, hope, anxiety, and triumph. Iterationillustrates the last moments Com Truise spends on the perilous planet Wave 1, before he and his alien love escape its clutches to live in peace. Album opener .”..Of Your Fake Dimension” launches the interstellar drama with its anthemic swells and widescreen sound design, before lovesick songs like “Dryswch” and “Propagation” outline scenes wrought with cybernetic pathos. In “Isostasy,” the synaesthetic quality of Haley’s compositions is presented in ultra-high-definition. Later, the frantic rhythms of “Syrthio” conjure images of panicked flight as Haley’s gorgeous synth melodies gild the action in quiet heartbreak. Then comes the resounding “When Will You Find The Limit…,” when Iteration‘s pain and sadness finds liberation in the vast unknown. The closing title track ends it all in a gush of majestic revelry.

So goes the winding story that Iteration tells, and yet there’s more behind its telling. “I try hard not to write from my personal life, but it’s inevitably going to seep into the music,” Haley explains. “It’s basically like I’m scoring this film in my head, but that film I’m scoring is also somehow my life.” There are glimpses of the difficult time the East Coast native spent adjusting to a new life in Los Angeles, fighting homesickness and burnout while also touring the world. It was a time full of uncertainty, transition, and self-realization. After a year and a half of living in California, Haley finally recaptured his creativity by finding new excitement in his work. “I put more air, more breathing room in the music — that was the big change,” he says. And once that clicked, the album quickly materialized.

Such a clear refinement of the Com Truise sound took time to develop, but Iteration is well worth the patience and perseverance it cost. Some of Haley’s smartest, catchiest work is here, from the weightless pop heights of “Memory” to “Ternary”‘s lush synth-funk. A song like “Vacuume” somehow manages to balance massive bass swells and punishing drums with stuttering angelic gasps, and “Usurper” gracefully pairs subtle poignant melodies with uplifting dance beats. “For me, it feels like change,” Haley says of his second album, and yes, this is Com Truise like never before. By embracing the music’s inherent nature and peerless qualities, Iteration finds new avenues of expression in its vivid, familiar surroundings.