David Wrench (music producer)

David Wrench is a Welsh musician, songwriter, producer and mixer based in London.[1] His work has been nominated for Grammys,[2][3][4] Brit Awards and shortlisted for numerous Mercury Prize nominations including the 2017 winning album Process by Sampha.[5] Wrench has been the recipient of the BBC Radio Cymru C2 Producer of the Year award five times in six years between 2007 and 2012 [6] and has received Music Producer Guild Awards (MPGs) including Mix Engineer of the Year 2016 and 2019.[7][8] Credits include, David Byrne, Frank Ocean, Caribou, Goldfrapp, Erasure, The xx, Sampha, Jamie xx, Jungle, FKA Twigs, Glass Animals, Alma, Hot Chip, Marika Hackman, Honne, Jack Garratt, Austra, Tourist, Blossoms, Richard Russell, Let's Eat Grandma, Young Fathers, Georgia, Bat For Lashes, and Race Horses.

David Wrench
OriginWales
Genres
Occupation(s)
Years active1989–present
Labels

As a musician, Wrench first came to public attention in 1990 with his first group Nid Madagascar who released the first Welsh-language acid house record "Lledrith Lliw" as a 12" single in 1990.[9] This was followed by his first solo album Blow Winds Blow, released via Ankst in 1997. After its release, Wrench began working as an engineer, producer and occasional instrumentalist for artists. His early engineering and production credits from this period include records by British Sea Power, Jackie Leven and The Blueskins, Zabrinski, MC Mabon, Julian Cope (Brain Donor) and Welsh Music Prize winning album from Georgia Ruth. Mix credits from this time include James Yorkston, Caribou (Albums Andorra and Swim), Week of Pines and Y Niwl.[10]

In 2010 Wrench released the album Spades & Hoes & Plows on Invada records. The album, which was produced by Julian Cope, comprises three re-workings of old revolutionary folk songs and one original instrumental piece based on the Rebecca riots. Writing in the Sunday Times, Stewart Lee described the album thus: "In the face of young people's new enthusiasm for trad-lite, the Welsh weirdo David Wrench threatens to reunpopularise folk music, foregrounding puritanical politics over unpalatable instrumentation at funereal tempos. Fans of Lisbee Stainton are unlikely to enjoy Wrench's punishing, 24-minute rendition of "The Blackleg Miner" despite the invigorating and apocalyptically primitive Mellotron interludes supplied by Julian Cope's Black Sheep band. These weary recitations of traditional protest songs require patience, but by Helyntion Beca, a wordless closing workout inspired by 19th-century black-face transvestites attacking Carmarthenshire toll gates, the LP achieves a tortuous transcendence." [11]

Production, Mix & Engineering

2004-2014

When not working on his own music, David Wrench is a studio Record Producer and Engineer. Wrench’s production and mix credits from 2004 to 2014 include a number of critically acclaimed albums for Bear in Heaven (I Love You, It's Cool), Alessi's Ark (Time Travel), Race Horses (Goodbye Falkenberg), Zun Zun Egui (Katang), Y Niwl, Gwyneth Glyn, Skinny Lister (Forge & Flagon) and Caribou (Swim). As an Engineer he worked on albums by Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything, Kathryn Williams, Guillemotts, Beth Orton, James Yorkston, Nancy Elizabeth and Fanfarlo.[1]

2014-Present

In 2014 he mixed FKA Twigs’ hugely lauded LP1, and Jungle’s self titled debut album, both subsequently nominated for the Mercury Prize.[12]

2015 saw Wrench work again with Dan Snaith aka Caribou on the album Our Love[13] which went on to be nominated in the Best Dance/Electronic album at the 2015 Grammy Awards.[14]

In 2016 Wrench mixed "Self Control" on Frank Ocean's second studio album Blonde.[15]

In 2017, he mixed Sampha’s Mercury Prize and Brit Award winning album Process, and the following year he mixed David Byrne’s American Utopia,[16] which was subsequently nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 61st Grammy Awards.[17] Wrench’s other mix and producing credits from 2017/2018 include Goldfrapp Silver Eye,[18] The xx’s I See You, Gwenno’s Le Kov [19] (Cornish language album), tracks from Richard Russell’s EP Everything Is Recorded, [20]Honne Love Me/Love Me Not, Lo Moon, For Me It’s You, Blossoms album Cool Like You and Let’s Eat Grandma I’m All Ears.[15]

More recently Wrench has mixed Erasure's The Neon, [21] the band's eighteenth studio album released in August 2020 by Mute Records. The album debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart with 8,394 copies sold in its first week, the duo's highest-charting album since I Say I Say I Say (1994).[22] In 2020 David also worked with Arlo Parks on tracks "Black Dog", "Eugene" and "Hurt". The latter two have been BBC Radio 1’s Tune of the Week and Annie’s Mac’s Hottest Record. Parks won the AIM Independent Music Awards 2020 ‘One To Watch', was included in The NME 100 [23] and longlisted for BBC Sound of 2020.[24]

Some of David's latest projects include Ellie Goulding's track "New Heights" from new album Brightest Blue,[25] Jamie xx single "idontknow",[15] Caribou album Suddenly [26] and recent Frank Ocean tracks.[15]

Other mixing and producing projects during this period include "Gosh" from Jamie xx’s In Colour (2015);[27] tracks from Glass Animals’ How To Be A Human Being (2016),[28] their debut Zaba (2014) and also their most recent release Dreamland (2020);[29] Marika Hackman Any Human Friend (2019);[30] and Alma Bad News Baby (2019).[15]

Other projects

In 2015, Wrench provided surround sound mixing of Wayne McGregor’s ballet Tree Of Codes for its debut at the Manchester Opera House for the Manchester International Festival.[31] The ballet features music by Jamie xx, and visual design by Olafur Eliasson. The ballet was highly acclaimed, and continues to tour.

In 2018, he formed the band Audiobooks alongside singer, artist and model Evangeline Ling.[32] The band signed to Heavenly Recordings and released their debut album Now! (in a minute) in November 2018.[33]

Wrench is also set to produce Bombino’s next album in Niger,[34] and as part of the project they plan to build and set up the first fully functioning recording studio in the city of Agadez.


Discography

Albums
  • 1997: Blow Winds Blow (vinyl LP/audio CD)
  • 1999: You Have Just been Poisened by The Serpents (audio CD with The Serpents)
  • 2005: The Atomic World of Tomorrow (audio CD)
  • 2010: Spades & Hoes & Plows (audio CD)

Singles and EPs
  • 1990: "Lledrith Lliw" (12" vinyl EP with Nid Madagascar)
  • 1997: "Black Roses" (7" vinyl)
  • 1997: "The Ballad of the Christmas Tree and the Silver Birch" (7" vinyl)
  • 1998: "No Mask, No Cloak, Dim Gobaith" (7" vinyl with The Serpents)
  • 1998: "Sings the Songs of the Shangri Las" (7" vinyl EP)
  • 2004: "Superhorny" / "Fuck You And Your War on Terror" (12" vinyl & CD EP)
  • 2004: "World War IV" (CD EP)

References
  1. "David Wrench". Solar Management. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  2. "Best Dance/Electronic Album: 58th GRAMMY Nominees". GRAMMY.com. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. William Doyle (27 February 2018). "The Strange World Of... David Byrne". The Quietus. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  4. Evan Minsker (7 December 2018). "Grammy Nominations 2019: See The Full List Here". The Quietus. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  5. "Mercury Prize 2017: The nominees". BBC Music. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  6. "Yr Ods scoop Welsh music gong". North Wales Live. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  7. "MPG 2016 Award Winners". The Music Producers Guild. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  8. "The Music Producers Guild Announces its 2019 Awards Winners". The Music Producers Guild. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  9. "David Wrench biography". BBC Wales. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  10. "David Wench". Sound on Sound. January 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  11. Lee, Stewart (4 July 2010). "Spades & Hoes & Plows review". Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  12. "Mercury Prize 2014: Producer David Wrench's split loyalties". BBC News Online. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  13. "Caribou opens up on Our Love". Crack Magazine. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  14. "Hamilton's Caribou gets Grammy nomination for 'Our Love'". CBC News. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  15. "Producer / Mixers". Solar Management. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  16. "Mixing David Byrne's American Utopia with David Wrench". Waves Audio. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. "Artist - David Byrne". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  18. "Goldfrapp announce new album Silver Eye, share lead single "Anymore" -- listen". Consequence of Sound. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  19. Staff, XLR8R (19 February 2018). "Gwenno Announces New Album, Le Kov". XLR8R. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  20. "Everything Is Recorded: Close but Not Quite EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  21. The Neon - Erasure | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 20 January 2021
  22. "Charts analysis: Brandon Flowers lands eighth chart-topping album | Analysis | Music Week". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  23. "The NME 100: Essential new artists for 2020 | NME". NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  24. "Yungblud, Georgia and Celeste make the BBC Sound of 2020 longlist". BBC News. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  25. Brightest Blue - Ellie Goulding | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 20 January 2021
  26. Suddenly - Caribou | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 20 January 2021
  27. In Colour - Jamie xx | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 20 January 2021
  28. How to Be a Human Being - Glass Animals | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 20 January 2021
  29. Dreamland - Glass Animals | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 20 January 2021
  30. Subscribe. "Bringing sexy back: Marika Hackman". diymag.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  31. 3083398. "Tree of Codes show program". Issuu. Retrieved 21 January 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. "David Wrench: 'I was determined that my work was going to be as good as the biggest records out there' | Gigwise". www.gigwise.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  33. "Now! (in a minute)". heavenlyrecordings.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  34. "Inside Bombino's Ambitious Plans For a Professional Studio In Niger". Billboard. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
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