Army of One & Alfie Patu – Permanence

Permanence is the collaborative album between New Zealand rap artist Army of One & UK producer Alfie Patu. A chance pairing of the ages, this record was crafted over the majority of 2024 and features 11 guest vocalists (some who appear more than once). Permanence, or the lack thereof, has been in the forefront of my mind since I was a child. For over twenty years I would let go of things – objects, opportunities, people, places, etc – and watch as they vanished into the past, never to be retrieved again. Permanently lost. To leave an everlasting legacy is perhaps the ultimate goal of the human experience, to transcend the restrictions of lifespan and outlast death – whilst Permanence may not attempt to achieve quite this, it stares those possibilities dead in the face to questions if they’re possible, or even worth it at all. Rap music is perhaps the world’s greatest canvas for a mind crammed too full of thoughts, allowing us to splatter far more words on each page than any other genre; I take full advantage of this on every song, and this album is no different. I also invited the paintbrushes of as many other artists as I could – once again, these friendships, relationships, acquaintanceships may burn strong, but are they permanent? How many people did you know ten years ago you don’t speak to anymore? Or merely exchange happy birthday messages on Facebook with? 27 years has given me the hindsight to understand that this is an inevitability, so while I’m here in the right now, I wanted to capture the paint of as many friends as I could, because despite my greatest effort there is no guarantee I’ll still have them next year. Or in five years. Or in twenty. These vocal contributions may not be Permanent – but they will last longer than us. I can assure you of that. There were many more artists I hoped to contribute to this album, to etch their names in stone and preserve a record of our interaction; may our collaborative stars align more rightly next time. Thank you to everyone who contributed to Permanence. Thank you to everyone that didn’t. I love you all the same. Happy 2015. I know the date down at the bottom of this page says 2025, but I know where I really am. Thank you for joining me there – it’s been lonely for ten years now. Enjoy Permanence, and let it inspire you to encapture your own legacy. I’ll be here, ready to listen to it. Or look at it. Or read it. However you choose to create, whatever canvas appeals to you. (Note: this preorder says $1 NZD – this is a required minimum for a preorder, and will be reverted to “name your price” on 18 January 2025) credits releases January 18, 2025 All tracks written & performed by Army of One All tracks produced by Alfie Patu All tracks mixed & mastered by Inzpire Photography and design by Army of One Additional photo colouring by Version Gamma Track 01 features vocals by Cruncle Track 02 features vocals by Regicidal Track 03 features vocals by From The ADTiC Track 04 features vocals by Dereos Roads Track 05 featuers vocals by Inzpire Track 08 features vocals by cropscropscrops Track 10 features vocals by Cruncle, Inzpire, Nick Lenton, Oliver Bate, Trey Dog Whistle, chvrchbvrner & Souki Kismet Scratching on track 01 by Nick Lenton Additional drums on track 03 by Version Gamma Additional vocals on track 05 by Alfie Patu Additional vocals on track 06 by Hamish Marchant Additional vocals on track 10 by Regicidal (recorded July 2013 & 18 December 2013) Equipment Shure SM7B Dynamic Microphone Shure SM58 Dynamic Microphone Audio Technica AT815b Line + Gradient Shotgun Condenser Microphone Yamaha MG10 Mixing Console CL-1 Cloudlifter KZ EDX Pro In Ear Monitors Sennheiser HD558 Open Back Headphones All tracks recorded in Reaper All tracks mixed & mastered in Cakewalk Sonar Written 06/01/2024 – 02/12/2024 RR005. Regiment Records 2025