Under the banner of Mouse On Mars, Jan St. Werner has spent more than three decades crafting forward-thinking, reality-bending electronic music alongside Andi Toma; a parallel path saw him collaborating for years with Markus Popp of Oval in Microstoria. Yet St. Werner has also pursued solo projects, occasionally presenting music under the Lithops alias, and his 2023 release Space Synthesis appeared as a solo record released under his own name. The forthcoming EP follows that same thread, though it leans heavily on collaboration.
Squares Will Fall is slated for a November release credited to Jan St. Werner, yet the project is fundamentally a cooperative endeavor. Its origins are long and textured, as explained by the Bandcamp biography:
“Squares Will Fall” began back in 2012 as an electronic piece lasting exactly 30 minutes, conceived to mark the 30th birthday of a friend. Over the years, the composition continued to develop, eventually laying the groundwork for an improvised session between Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Jan St. Werner during Mouse on Mars’s Dimensional People sessions at Vernon’s Wisconsin studio. In 2021, “Squares Will Fall” reappeared in a new form as a multidirectional loudspeaker choreography created for the Ural Industrial Biennial. Three distinct layers of the piece were projected through loudspeakers suspended from circus‑tent ropes, while performers repeatedly re‑positioned them, turning the act of mixing into a cooperative, participatory process. Audiences wandered through the venue, experiencing shifting viewpoints of the work and recording personal documents of a composition that sounded different for each listener.
“Squares Will Fall” serves as the A-side of the EP. In addition to Vernon’s lead vocal, the track features longtime St. Werner contributor Kid Millions on drums, Beirut’s Zach Condon on trumpet, and Ben Lanz (The National/Beirut) on trombone. Mouse On Mars’ Toma contributed to the mixing. The result evokes the exploratory spirit of Bon Iver’s 2019 album i,i, while pushing it even further outward.
Two B-sides complete the release: “Swamp Brains” and “Flötotto.” On “Swamp Brains,” St. Werner works with vocalist Rosanne Rubino as his sole collaborator. “Flötotto” assembles another all-star lineup, featuring Sufjan Stevens on the drum machine, Kid Millions on drums, and Lanz handling trombone and bass.
Ahead of the EP’s formal release, Thrill Jockey is circulating a shortened version of “Squares Will Fall” on Bandcamp. You can listen to it below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Squares Will Fall”
02 “Swamp Brains”
03 “Flötotto”
Squares Will Fall lands on 11/13 via Thrill Jockey.
