Sugar Sprinkles: New Track from Phew and Danielle de Picciotto via Mute
Phew and Danielle de Picciotto have released ‘Sugar Sprinkles’, a track from their first collaborative album Paper Masks, due on 20 February 2026 through Mute.
Artist: Danielle de Picciotto Phew
Release Date: 2026-02-20
Genres: Ambient, Avant-garde, Electronica, Experimental Music, Industrial Music
Label: Mute Records
Description: Phew and Danielle de Picciotto share Sugar Sprinkles from Paper Masks, out 20 Feb 2026 via Mute. Five-year Japan-Berlin collaboration.
Featured image: © Katja Ruge
The album developed over five years. Phew composed and arranged the music at her studio in Japan, working with vocal recordings de Picciotto sent from Berlin. Phew has stated she made tracks without reading the lyrics, focusing on the voice itself. She said the album was made “in the hope that it would create a butterfly effect in the world.”
De Picciotto noted her longstanding engagement with poetry and language manipulation, referencing her trilingual upbringing. She described the prospect of having her spoken word distorted as an invitation.
The album includes German spoken word pieces from de Picciotto alongside Phew‘s vocals. ‘Der Verpasste Kaffee’ moves between minimal passages and electronic bursts. On ‘Amnesie’, spoken and sung voices move in relation to one another with what resemble overheard transmissions.
Phew formed part of Osaka post-punk group Aunt Sally before beginning a solo career. She has worked with Ana da Silva, Jim O’Rourke, Oren Ambarchi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Seiichi Yamamoto, Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, Conny Plank, Alexander Hacke and Chrislo Haas.
Danielle de Picciotto, born in the United States and based in Berlin, co-founded the Berlin Love Parade in 1989. She has released solo albums and books, including the memoir The Beauty of Transgression. She has performed with Crime & the City Solution, Gudrun Gut, Space Cowboys, Die Haut, and as part of hackedepicciotto with Alexander Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten.
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