Four Tet and William Tyler announce new album

Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet, has announced a new collaborative album with guitarist William Tyler titled 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s, set for release this September. The project unites two artists from distinct musical territories—ambient electronica and American folk—under a shared reverence for 1980s country music.

Four Tet, who has long pursued an introspective and exploratory path in electronic production, joins forces with William Tyler, whose background includes work with Lambchop and Silver Jews as well as a solo catalog defined by rich, instrumental Americana. According to Hebden, the album emerged from recording sessions in Los Angeles over the last three years. The duo discovered their overlapping admiration for artists like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, and Joe Ely—figures often underappreciated in electronic music circles.

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The first single, a reimagining of Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat,” exchanges the original’s country cadence for a subtler, slow-unfolding arrangement. Tyler’s guitar lines retain the melodic core while Hebden suspends them in a hazy electronic frame—using negative space, ambient pads, and minimal interference to highlight the emotional pull of the original without leaning into sentimentality. This restraint suggests a mutual understanding of the track’s essence rather than a reinterpretation for novelty’s sake.

Tyler describes the album as “forward-focused,” pointing out that genre was never a guiding principle. “It’s a lot of nostalgia, but it’s also very forward-focused,” he explains. The quote reflects a broader trend: contemporary artists aren’t discarding their histories but rather rearranging them with digital tools, letting influence guide form rather than dictate it.

Rather than a dramatic reinvention, 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s positions itself as an homage—quiet, deliberate, and complex. It aligns with recent ambient-folk intersections seen in works by Daniel Lanois or Ryley Walker, situating the album in a conversation that values atmosphere and memory as much as innovation.