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The New Awkward

by Johnny Richards & Dave King

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Physical lovely-ness...

    Includes unlimited streaming of The New Awkward via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £10 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.

      £9 GBP  or more

     

  • Sheet Music

    DIGITAL PDF ONLY (Scores will be emailed to you once purchased)

    ONLY PIANO PARTS

    All the musical notation used to create The New Awkward. All the scores are reduced to a single piano score, showing all the sections of notated material you can hear in the recordings. There are some post-production effects and techniques you can hear on the album that won't be on the scores. Also, things like dynamics and articulation are non existent as I decided on all this after learning the written material. I've added a few extra notes directions to help with navigating the scores.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £20 GBP or more 

     

1.
Chance Would Be A Fine Thing 05:55
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2.
Sleepless In Settle 04:01
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3.
Memory Man 07:27
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4.
False Doors 04:26
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5.
The New Awkward 05:01
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6.
Gene Heard Wrong 05:22
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7.
Derpa Days 00:51
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8.
Darts 02:34
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9.
I Done It 05:23
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10.
Climbing On Mirrors 04:42
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about

◍ MOJO Magazine ★★★★
"The New Awkward is a new standard"
"It's tones as pinched as if by crabs"

◍ Soweto Kinch, BBC Radio 3
"You'll get quickly consumed by the controlled tension they build and joyfully lost in polyrhythms"

◍ Luminous Dash (DE)
"Think of Aksak Maboul trying to play a bit of Zappa with Robert Wyatt........Every note is perfect, playful, quirky, and perfectly in place" Luminous Dash (DE)

◍ Monolith Cocktail
"A mischievous, playful, and avant-garde merger of off-kilter jazz, electronica, performance art, transmogrified classical music, and math-rock equations.”

◍ Aural Aggravation
"It buzzes with a tense creative energy, urgent but also immersive and upbeat, the sound of unadulterated creative freedom."

◍ SaltPeanuts*
"A rhythmic and beautiful release that delights from start to finish"

◍ eReM
"A delight to listen to"

◍ A Closer Listen
"The awkward is worth doing"

◍ TDE Promotions
"A fascinating album"

The New Awkward is the genre-defying collaboration between celebrated musicians: UK pianist/composer Johnny Richards and US drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus) blending experimental jazz with layered composition and irreverent sound play.

An impossible music of dazzling interplay and texture, the duo’s debut recording melds prepared piano, intricate counterpoint and hyper-detailed percussion, set for release via False Door Records.

Check out the artists other projects here:
Dave King - daveking.bandcamp.com
Johnny Richards - johnnyrichards.bandcamp.com

credits

released September 5, 2025

Piano - Johnny Richards
Drums - Dave King

All compositions by Johnny Richards

Pianos recorded by Tim Thomas. Additional piano recordings by Johnny Richards. Recorded at Hollywell Studios 2020/2021 & West Bank Studios 2022.

Drum recording engineered by JT Bates in Minneapolis MN

Co-Produced by Johnny Richards and Tim Thomas

Mixed & Mastered by Tim Thomas

Dave King uses 651 Drums and Zildjian cymbals with Vic Firth sticks.

This album was supported by Help Musicians UK and Arts Council England.

False Door Records ©2025

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about

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False Door Records Leeds, UK

False Door Records is an independent, artist-led label based in Leeds, UK, dedicated to releasing boundary-pushing sounds across experimental jazz, classical and electronic music.

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