Necessary Fictions GoGo Penguin

• 1 Umbra 03:12
• 2 Fallowfield Loops 04:44
• 3 Forgive the Damages 04:10
• 4 What We Are and What We Are Meant to Be 05:37
• 5 Background Hiss Reminds Me of Rain 01:40
• 6 The Turn Within 05:48
• 7 Living Bricks in Dead Mortar 02:52
• 8 Naga Ghost 05:24
• 9 Luminous Giants 05:09
• 10 Float (Loi Krathong, 2003) 02:33
• 11 State of Flux (feat. Manchester Collective) 04:28
• 12 Silence Speaks 03:09
• Total Runtime 48:46

Info for Necessary Fictions

GoGo Penguin, the Manchester trio known for their blend of jazz, classical and electronic influences since forming in 2012, are releasing their seventh studio album NECESSARY FICTIONS due out June 20. It’s a bold new chapter in the band’s evolution and represents a deep dive into identity, authenticity, and transformation.

Alongside the announcement is the first single “Fallowfield Loops,” a punchy, melancholic, and danceable tribute to their hometown. The accompanying video — directed by pianist Chris Illingworth and bassist Nick Blacka — features evocative visuals of Manchester’s iconic Toast Rack building, the brutalist landmark seen on the album’s cover, and serves as a visual extension of the track’s mood: stark, nostalgic, and full of movement.

GoGo Penguin’s last album Everything Is Going to Be OK (2023) found the band reeling from almost breaking up, a new drummer in the form of Jon Scott (formerly of Mulatu Atsake’s band), coping with the death of family members, grief, the pandemic, and finding solace in the studio as they journeyed through uncertainty, survival and ultimately, resilience.

With NECESSARY FICTIONS, GoGo Penguin — Chris Illingworth (piano, synths), Nick Blacka (bass, synths), and Jon Scott (drums) — have embraced new textures and ideas more fully than ever before. They are operating from a place of confidence, having truly found their groove with Scott, and Illingworth and Blacka both in their fifth decade, and truly embracing who they are without fear. The album sees them expanding their signature sound, drawing deeper into modular synths, and, for the first time, welcoming other voices into their sonic world.

“This is what we want to make right now, and it feels authentic,” says Blacka. NECESSARY FICTIONS is the sound of a band unafraid to reflect who they are — not just in sound, but in spirit and surroundings.

GoGo Penguin

GoGo Penguin
Manchester-based leftfield piano trio GoGo Penguin are pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner. Their music has been described as acoustic-electronica but they draw equally on rock, jazz and minimalism, game soundtracks and glitchy-electronica to create their unique music. Their album v2.0 (Gondwana Records) was named a Mercury Prize Album of the Year in 2014 alongside albums from Damon Albarn, Young Fathers and Jungle. In 2015 they signed a three album deal with Blue Note Records (France) and released the debut Blue Note album Man Made Object in 2016. More recently they have been touring their own unique score to Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi.

Noted for their hypnotic melodies, visceral bass-lines and tidal rhythm, Manchester-based leftfield piano trio GoGo Penguin are pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner. Their music has been described as acoustic-electronica but they draw equally on rock, jazz and minimalism, game soundtracks and glitchy-electronica to create their unique music. It's music for the heart, head and feet and saw their album v2.0(Gondwana Records) named a Mercury Prize album of the year 2014 alongside albums from Damon Albarn, Young Fathers and Jungle. In 2015 they signed to Blue Note Records and released the album Man Made Object in 2016. More recently they have been touring their own score to Godfrey Reggio's cult film Koyaanisqatsi.

Booklet for Necessary Fictions