Vanishing Twin – Archives

Vanishing Twin’s Archives arrives a decade into the group’s existence and turns their collaborative method into the album’s central idea. Released by Fire Records, it takes its title from the band’s habit of recording daily sessions, then listening back, reshaping fragments and building a story from what they find. That process matters here: rather than presenting fixed roles or neatly separated songs, the record treats the studio as a space for exchange, editing and discovery.

With Cathy Lucas now based in rural France and Valentina Magaletti and Susumu Mukai in London, Archives was developed across distance through swapped songs, instrumental sketches and collective reworking. The trio’s multi-instrumental approach keeps the music in motion, with bass, drums and voices passing between members and ideas taking precedence over individual authorship. The result is a playful, open-ended set that leans into postmodern collage while still feeling purposeful and human.

That sense of fluidity has long been part of Vanishing Twin’s appeal, but Archives seems to sharpen it: improvised fragments, virtual collaboration and careful editing become the music’s real engine. Tracks like “Life By The Hand,” “Sugar Stone” and the title piece suggest a band still interested in surprise, and still unwilling to settle into one genre for long.