In Another Room is an EP by English musician Paul Weller, released in January 2020 by electronic label Ghost Box. The label approached Weller to record a release for them, the musician having already taken influence from the label's music on previous releases. Recorded with longtime engineer Charles Rees, the project allowed Weller to create more outré music and explore his passions for tape music and electronics.
The EP contains four instrumentals and is a work of musique concrète, sound collage and experimental music, based on field recordings that Weller captured during his travels and everyday life. Tape manipulation was employed to give the project an analogue feel and change the speed of recordings. The record has also been considered a work of hauntology, a genre pioneered by Ghost Box.
In Another Room was a limited edition of 1,000 vinyl copies, although it was also available as a download. Critics contextualised the record as continuing Weller's more adventurous 2010s work. The musician later reused elements of the EP on his subsequent album On Sunset (2020).
Background and recording
Paul Weller had long been a fan of electronic label Ghost Box, and their influence on his music was apparent in eccentric recordings such as "Night Lights" from 22 Dreams (2008) and the lengthy sound collage "Jimmy/Blackout" from the Jawbone soundtrack (2017). The genesis of In Another Room came when Ghost Box founder Jim Jupp approached Weller to record material for the label; Jupp, who was surprised that Weller was a fan of Ghost Box, only infrequently followed his career until Saturns Pattern (2015) re-energised his interest; he said of the album: "I realised just how wide ranging his influences had become. It goes without saying what an incredible songwriter he is but, I love the way he weaves in his love of English folk and vintage electronics as well as the more obvious influences." Weller considered it "[a] great honour to be asked to do it as a fan of the label." Paul Osborne of Shindig! wrote that Ghost Box was the ideal label for Weller to explore "his love of experimental tape music and electronics", and provided him with the opportunity "to visit the more outrè corners of the musical spectrum."
Weller commented that once he knew Ghost Box were interested in a release, he began storing up ideas, later resulting in a wealth of sounds on the EP that were recorded from his iPhone. Early discussions between Weller and Jupp helped formalise some of the musician's ideas as well as "providing fresh inspiration", according to Jupp, who added that Weller sent him his Jawbone soundtrack album for "a flavour of what kind of instrumental work [the release] might be.". Jupp suggested the work result in a seven-inch single or EP, with no particular deadline attached, thus allowing Weller to "do something a bit more out there, which was certainly fine by us!"
The EP was created by Weller with long-time engineer Charles Rees, utilising field recordings "captured during [Weller's] travels and day to day life." The musician wrote, arranged, produced the EP and played most of its instrumentation, with Rees also credited for recording, mixing and production management. According to Rees, the principle of the recording "was whatever you were thinking, you could record and them manipulate it." To this end, tape manipulation was employed on the tracks to provide them with analogue atmosphere. Weller said: "We used the half-inch tape and put some sounds back onto that and fucked about with them and slowed them down or whatever." Besides Weller, other musicians on the album include Rees, who played Moog synthesiser on "Rejoice"; Tom Van Heel, who played Moog on the title track and "Submerge", as well as "prayer bowl" percussion on the latter and drums, vocals and glockenspiel on "Rejoice", and Jan Erika, whose cello work appears on "Submerge".