David Sylvian: new album after 15 years. Here's "The Distance Between The Killer And The Killing"

The newly launched label Nanoq has announced a new album by David Sylvian, titled "The Distance Between The Killer And The Killing". It's the first record released by Sylvian in 15 years (preorder: Nanoq Store).

Made up of sessions recorded between 2012 and 2025, the album grew out of the reworking of improvisations created with various artists, including Otomo Yoshihide, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bilianna Voutchkova, Miako Klein, Jamie Drouin and Lance Austin Olson. The work, a 46-minute instrumental piece, departs from everything Sylvian had tackled before, and the musician himself considers it the official follow-up to "Manafon", his 2009 album.
"The Distance Between The Killer And The Killing" will be released on February 26, 2027, and is already available for preorder in several formats and special editions, with art direction by Sylvian himself and design by Chris Bigg. Alongside the standard vinyl LP and the plastic-free gatefold CD, two limited editions are planned: a marbled vinyl housed in a mirror-effect card sleeve, and a deluxe CD packaged as a hardback book.

The Nanoq Store is also offering three exclusive limited editions: a vinyl picture disc, and two versions — one on vinyl, one on CD — each accompanied by an art postcard hand-signed by David Sylvian and a set of six A6-format postcards.
Purchasing any physical format from the Nanoq Store also includes a free high-resolution digital download, available from the release date.
Further images of the various editions are available on the newly updated davidsylvian.com, which also features an essay by Pauline Nadrigny devoted to "The Distance Between the Killer and the Killing", a biography updated to 2026, artwork and the album credits.

"A truly extraordinary piece of work. At times it feels like listening to a symphony; at others, it's as if Sylvian's voice were speaking through the music. At first I was trying to find my own sound, but at a certain point I completely forgot about it, totally absorbed by the music. Hearing Ryuichi's presence emerge here and there throughout the piece stirs a truly special emotion in me. Thank you for creating something so extraordinary," commented Otomo Yoshihide. "Mysterious music, of a quiet and understated beauty. Every sound is exactly where it should be. It's precisely the music I was waiting for," added Christian Fennesz.

Digital versions of the album will be available for purchase or pre-save from late November 2026. The release will have worldwide distribution, and non-exclusive formats can also be ordered through record stores in various countries.

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