Wil Bolton’s forthcoming album, Strewn with Crimson, is an evocative sonic portrait of East London’s Lea Valley. Shaped by the region's wetlands, marshes, and industrial edgelands, the project weaves together site-specific field recordings, found objects, modular synthesis, and processed acoustic instruments. The album’s title draws inspiration from the wild poppy and herb-robert flowers growing across derelict Victorian filter beds, symbolising a complex landscape where rich biodiversity and ecological recovery exist in an uneasy balance with urbanisation and redevelopment.

The core of the album grew from environmental sounds and natural objects gathered during a series of walks spanning from late winter to summer. Recorded locations include the Walthamstow Wetlands, Hackney Marshes, and the waterways surrounding the Olympic Park. Bolton later transformed these field recordings — ranging from birdsong to traffic — during a residency at Stockholm’s EMS, processing them through a historic Buchla 200 modular synthesiser. Back in the studio, these electronic layers were merged with improvised piano, shruti box, tuned percussion, and unique acoustic elements, such as a copper lampshade and a Bass VI played with found twigs and glass.

The record also features notable contributions from guest musicians Katie English on bass flute and letterpress artist Russell Frost on mandolin. Through extensive audio processing — including granular effects, pitch-shifting, and ambient delays — the final compositions map the layered identities and hidden histories of the valley. The result is a richly detailed, deeply atmospheric listening experience that explores both the resilience and the inherent fragility of modern urban ecosystems.