In November last year, right before Ulver embarked on their European tour supporting the wildly successful The Assassination of Julius Caesar, out of the blue they dropped the EP Sic Transit Gloria Mundi digitally on their own Bandcamp. Now Ulver are presenting the album in physical form for the first time by way of a 12″ upcoming on House Of Mythology this December.
The band have issued a short statement on the three new studio songs: “The sad remains from the Caesarean banquet. Two songs we kind of left on the drawing board but resumed work on this summer. Additionally, a cover of a childhood favourite – one we actually started some twelve–thirteen years ago, around the time we first started talking about making some ‘pop’ music. This EP was finalised in our new studio in the old town of Oslo in September, and sent over to Youth’s in London in October, for imperial sound quality. Ulver, The Colony Room, November 11 2017.”
The band has decided that for the time being these four live tracks will only be available on this vinyl edition. 25 minutes of exclusive bonus material, as a bit of a reward or incentive to those who still buy physical music.
The vinyl is available in three different colours: punk yellow, purple and classic black. The cover shows Francis Bacon’s Study Aer Velásquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953), used with kind permission of Des Moines Art Center. Design by the immaculate Paschalis Zervas, + wolframgrafik.
In additional news, Ulver are to play a special performance with Red Bull Music Festival entitled Drone Activity in Oslo on 13th october. Described as “a unique commission by Ulver who are currently exploring sources, sounds and possibilities for an exclusive set/performance based on the ethos of Drone Activity.” And finally, Ulver have announced a show in New York at Irving Plaza on March 21st 2019, tickets are on sale today.