411 MUSIC GROUP RELEASES “DEEP PULSE EXTRACTION” SINGLE BY COMPOSER BENJI MERRISON + ANNOUNCES THE COLLABORATIVE ALBUM THE LIGHT & DARK: LONDON OUT 11/15
Los Angeles’ 411 Music Group has released the single “Deep Pulse Extraction” by UK based producer Benji Merrison. This single follows “Troopers Hill” from Hospital Records artist Keeno released earlier this month. Both songs are off of the forthcoming collaborative album The Light & Dark: London due out November 15th.
The project was conceptualized and produced by 411 Music Group’s CEO, Kristen Agee. “The concept came to me after I was almost in a plane crash coming back from Canada earlier this year,” says Agee. “I eventually made it home to Los Angeles, slept for 3 days, and woke up with this idea in my head. Good and bad things happen simultaneously all the time. It’s taken me over 30 years to understand that life is not black and white. Light and darkness move together, and without one, you don’t have the other. It’s possible to have a good and bad day, positive and negative experiences and a full spectrum of emotions throughout every step. That’s part of being human, and it’s okay. It’s a difficult concept to unpack, which brought me to the studio to write and record this album.”
The idea of putting together a project that brought together composers with different backgrounds and talents had been stirring in Agee's mind for a while, with the vision of recording with an orchestra at Air Studios in London. There were some obvious choices when choosing a theme that could have been catered to sync, but Kristen decided to make this album about the music versus allowing sync and marketing dictate direction. Agee called two Los Angeles based composers, Brian Carr and Steve Edwards, with whom 411 collaborates with often, as well as UK composer Benji Merrison, and Drum and Bass Hospital Records producer and DJ, Keeno, to but a twist on the concept of the standard orchestral sound. Each composer was asked to contribute original pieces based on the concepts of “dark” and “light.” Ideas and tracks were traded back and forth for months. The group went into Air Studios in August and came out with a stunning collection of 17 compositions. In addition to recording live strings, the entire process was documented on video, the footage of which will be released over the next few weeks.