Jan St. Werner, one-half of German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, will release a solo album titled "Squares Will Fall" on November 13 via Thrill Jockey. The record features contributions from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Beirut's Zach Condon, and the National's Ben Lanz, among others.
According to a Bandcamp bio, the genesis of the title track dates to 2012, when Werner recorded a 30-minute version of the piece to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. The composition evolved into the foundation for an improvisation by Vernon and Werner during Mouse on Mars's Dimensional People sessions at Vernon's Wisconsin studio. Vernon contributed lyrics and vocals to the track.
In 2021, Werner presented "Squares Will Fall" as a live performance piece at the Ural Industrial Biennial, with speakers suspended from the circus ceiling and continuously repositioned by performers as active participants in the mixing process. The album's full tracklist includes "Swamp Brains," featuring singer Rosanne Rubino, and "Flötotto," on which Stevens plays drum machine and Lanz handles trombone and bass.
Werner's most recent solo release, "Space Synthesis," came out in 2023.
