Jan St. Werner Taps Justin Vernon and Sufjan Stevens for Solo Record 'Squares Will Fall'

Jan St. Werner, best known as one half of the German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, will release a new solo record titled Squares Will Fall on November 13 via Thrill Jockey. The record features contributions from Sufjan Stevens, Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver), Beirut's Zach Condon, the National's Ben Lanz, and others, according to Pitchfork.

The album runs just three tracks: "Squares Will Fall," "Swamp Brains," and "Flötotto." Each brings a different set of guests. Vernon contributed lyrics and vocals to the title track. Singer Rosanne Rubino features on "Swamp Brains." On "Flötotto," Sufjan Stevens handles the drum machine while Ben Lanz plays trombone and bass. Pitchfork notes Zach Condon's involvement among the additional contributors.

The origins of the project go back over a decade. In 2012, St. Werner recorded a 30-minute version of the piece "Squares Will Fall" as a birthday gift for a friend turning 30. That original recording became the seed for what is now a fully realised release with a roster of collaborators spanning indie folk, art-pop and experimental electronic circles.

St. Werner's most recent solo release before Squares Will Fall was Space Synthesis, which came out in 2023. Mouse on Mars, the project he shares with Andi Toma, has been active since the early 1990s and remains a touchstone in experimental electronic music — a field where programmable rhythms, synthesised textures and found sounds often sit side by side with melodic structures borrowed from pop and dance music.

Thrill Jockey, the Chicago-based independent label releasing the record, lists Squares Will Fall on its official product page as St. Werner's latest album. Stereogum, reporting two days before Pitchfork's announcement on September 4, described the release as an EP rather than a full-length album — a discrepancy that reflects the three-track listing and the label's own framing. Either way, the November 13 date is confirmed across the label's site and Mouse on Mars' Bandcamp, where an edited version of the title track is already listed.

What makes this release stand out is the calibre of the guest list relative to the format. Three tracks is a small frame, but the collaborators — Stevens, Vernon, Condon — are artists whose own releases routinely top critics' lists and fill concert halls. Their presence on a solo electronic record from a label like Thrill Jockey, which has long specialised in experimental and post-rock releases, puts the release at an unusual intersection of audience and ambition.

For listeners, that means Squares Will Fall is likely to draw attention from beyond St. Werner's established following in experimental electronic music. The record arrives November 13 on Thrill Jockey.