The freshly minted label Nanoq is proud to announce a new album by David Sylvian. Titled The Distance Between the Killer and the Killing it is the first album Sylvian has released in 15 years.
Comprised of sessions recorded between 2012 and 2025, the album is based on recomposed improvisational sessions with a variety of artists ranging from Otomo Yoshihide, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bilianna Voutchkova and Miako Klein, to Jamie Drouin, Lance Austin Olson and more. The 46-minute instrumental is unlike anything tackled by Sylvian before and is seen by Sylvian himself as the official follow up to his 2009 album Manafon.
In Pauline Nadrigny’s essay on the album, she describes something of the listening experience. “…voices surge that belong to no one in particular. One that hoots and hums across a violin, worked until it loses its voice, becomes mere matter among other matter. A voice inside the breath of a clarinet or a recorder. Grunts, gurgles, distant cries, somewhere between man and bird, woman and nuthatch. Fragments of choirs, far off, snatches of a song long since lost. Too far to be recovered.”
The Distance Between the Killer and the Killing will be released on 26 February 2027 and is available to preorder now on a variety of formats and special editions, art directed by Sylvian and designed by Chris Bigg. Alongside the standard vinyl LP and plastic-free gatefold CD, there are two limited editions: a marbled vinyl housed in a mirror-board sleeve; and a deluxe CD in case-bound book packaging.
The Nanoq Store also offers three exclusive and limited editions: a vinyl picture disc format; and the limited vinyl or CD packaged with an artcard hand-signed by David Sylvian alongside a set of six A6 postcards.
Purchases of all physical formats from the Nanoq Store include a free Hi-Res Digital Download, available from the day of release. Preorder links for all formats can be found below.
NNQ001LP
180g black vinyl. Packaged in a heavy-weight 350gsm outer sleeve with a 170gsm inner sleeve. High-gloss finish on both the outer and inner sleeves.
Buy at the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from the day of release.
NNQ001CD
CD, packaged in a 4-panel plastic-free gatefold sleevepack with credit insert. High-gloss finish.
Buy at the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from day of release.
NNQ001LPPICTURE
160g colour Picture Disc, printed both sides. Packaged in a heavy-weight 350gsm outer sleeve with a 170gsm inner sleeve. High-gloss finish on both the outer and inner sleeves.
Only available on the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from the day of release.
NNQ001LPX
180g marble coloured vinyl. Packaged in a heavy-weight 350gsm CMYK-printed mirror-board silver reflective outer sleeve with a 170gsm inner sleeve. High-gloss finish on both the outer and inner sleeves.
Buy at the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from the day of release.
NNQ001LPX-SE
180g marble coloured vinyl. Packaged in a heavy-weight 350gsm CMYK-printed mirror-board, silver reflective outer sleeve with a 170gsm inner sleeve. High-gloss finish on both the outer and inner sleeves.
Plus, exclusive to the Nanoq Store: an A5 artcard on heavy-weight 300gsm cardstock, hand-signed by David Sylvian, its design unique to this vinyl format; and a set of six A6 postcards, printed colour on front, black on the reverse on heavy-weight 350gsm cardstock.
Only available on the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from the day of release.
NNQ001CDX
CD. Packaged in a 155mm x 208mm case-bound 12-page book. Outer cover finished in high gloss, with 250gsm semi gloss inner pages.
Buy at the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from the day of release.
NNQ001CDX-SE
CD. Packaged in a 155mm x 208mm case-bound 12-page book. Outer cover finished in high-gloss, with 250gsm semi-gloss inner pages.
Plus, exclusive to the Nanoq Store: an A6 artcard on heavy-weight 300gsm cardstock, hand-signed by David Sylvian, its design unique to this CD format; and a set of six A6 postcards, printed colour on front, black on the reverse on heavy-weight 350gsm cardstock.
Only available on the Nanoq Store. Includes a free hi-res digital download, available from the day of release.
“What a remarkable piece of work. At times it feels like listening to a symphony; at others, as though (Sylvian’s) voice is speaking through the music. At first, I was trying to find my own sound, but somewhere along the way I completely forgot about that and became utterly absorbed in the music. Hearing Ryuichi’s presence emerge here and there throughout the piece also brings a very special feeling for me. Thank you for creating something so extraordinary.” Otomo Yoshihide, 2026.
“Mysterious music of quiet, understated beauty. Every sound is where it belongs. This is exactly the music I’ve been waiting for.” Christian Fennesz, 2026.