Lorenzo Senni has unveiled Scacco Matto, his debut album for Warp.

Scacco Matto is Senni’s fifth album, following 2014’s Superimpositions, and it comes nearly four years after his Persona EP, his Warp debut.

Musically, it’s a continuation of the Milan-based multi-disciplinary artist’s distinctive “pointillistic” style,” where gated, taut sounds are arranged as relentlessly as drumless rhythms and melody.

The album’s title means “checkmate” in Italian, a reference to the constant “opponent” within the tracks—”like I was playing a chess game with myself,” Senni explains. “I was really trying to bring the music to a certain place and then switch advantageously to another approach. I wanted to see how far I could push the ideas I’ve been developing since Quantum Jelly and in order to do that, I needed to force self-imposed limits and rules.”

When recording, such rules saw him countering his own last move, “as an opponent whose every turn causes a disruption which requires a reaction,” the label says.

The artwork is an image from American photographer John Divola, which shows a picturesque Californian view shot through a dilapidated window frame dotted with pointillistic globs of black paint. Senni sees his own practice reflected in Divola’s work—he is not destroying dance music, but vandalizing it. “He’s smashing it to pieces and playing chess with shards—creating tension and ultimately finding resolution,” the label adds.

Tracklisting

01. Discipline of Enthusiasm
02. XBreakingEdgeX
03. Move In Silence (Only Speak When It’s Time To Say Checkmate)
04. Canone Infinito
05. Dance Tonight Revolution Tomorrow
06. The Power Of Failing
07. Wasting Time Writing Lorenzo Senni Songs
08. THINK BIG

Scacco Matto LP is out on April 24. Meanwhile, you can stream opener “Discipline of Enthusiasm ” below, and pre-order here.