Having completed his duties as a touring member of the now decommissioned LCD Soundsystem, Gavin Russom is set to begin work on a new album.

It will be the debut full-length offering from The Crystal Ark, Russom’s band project with Viva Ruiz (pictured above with Russom), and recording sessions will take place in Berlin in July and August. Prior to this, on May 28, The Crystal Ark will perform live at Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid festival.

The group have released two 12″s to date, ‘The City Never Sleeps’ (check the video below) and ‘The Tangible Presence of The Miraculous’, both last year on DFA. The inspiration for the project came when Russom spent five weeks performing in, and travelling around, Brazil – absorbing the sounds of carioca funk, atabaque drumming, tropicalia and South American club styles. At the same time he was preoccupied with the work of Belgian rave supremos Praga Khan and Nikki Van Lierop, particularly their classic Phantasia 12″s ‘Inner Light’ and ‘Violet Skies’. Up til now, The Crystal Ark has chiefly been an attempt to combine these two disparate strains of party music, but we have no idea what direction their album will take.

More information when we have it.