Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and more to feature on Mouse on Mars' Jan St Werner record

Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and more to feature on Mouse on Mars' Jan St Werner record The three-song EP, out in November, is the result of a composition first created in 2012. Jan St Werner has not just announced his upcoming EP, but a whole gang of musicians who will feature on it, too. St Werner – who forms one half of German electronic music duo Mouse on Mars – will release Squares Will Fall on November 13, an EP that includes collaborations with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, Ben Lenz from The National, and Zach Condon from Beirut. As per Stereogum, Condon will jump on trumpet and Lanz on trombone while Vernon sings lead vocals, and former collaborator of St Werner's Kid Millions on drums. It's kind of like the Blues Brothers, but for millennial indie fans! Indie by credential, indie by zeitgeist, too. Squares Will Fall's lead title track was first conceptualised in 2012, when the Berlin-based Werner was celebrating a friend's thirtieth birthday. What was, at first, a thirty-minute rendition was over time polished into a single, a journey that was 'the foundation for an improvisation by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Jan St. Werner during Mouse on Mars's Dimensional People sessions at Vernon's studio in Wisconsin,' as per Pitchfork. ''Squares Will Fall' began in 2012 as an electronic composition lasting exactly 30 minutes, created to mark the 30th birthday of a friend,' the official Bandcamp biography noted. 'Over time, the piece continued to evolve, eventually forming the foundation for an improvisation by Vernon and St. Werner during Mouse on Mars's Dimensional People sessions at Vernon's studio in Wisconsin.' 'In 2021, 'Squares Will Fall' assumed a new form as a multidirectional loudspeaker choreography created for the Ural Industrial Biennial,' the statement continued. 'Three independent layers of the composition were transmitted through loudspeakers suspended via long ropes from the circus ceiling and were continuously repositioned by the performers, becoming active participants in the mixing process. The audience was free to wander through the venue, experiencing shifting perspectives of the work and creating their own recordings as personal documents of a composition that existed differently for every listener.' The two other tracks on the EP are on the B-side: 'Swamp Brains' and 'Flötotto'. While 'Swamp Brains' features Rosanne Rubino – and Rosanne Rubino only! – 'Flötotto' boasts another all-star line-up which includes Sufjan Stevens on drum machine, Kid Millions on drums, and Lanz on trombone and bass. Formed in 1993, Mouse on Mars is a musical duo composed of Werner and Andi Toma – who is also jumping on Squares Will Fall, contributing bass – that is notable for blending genres and utilising live instrumentation. They released Spatial, No Problem earlier this year with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, five years after the reggae legend died.