‘The Amber Light’: Originally issued as a limited CD only bonus disc for ‘The Silver Globe’ album global re-release and a subsequent vinyl pressing, ‘The Amber Light’ surprised fans expecting B-sidesand outtakes with what, for many, stood up as its own isolated project, including some of Jane’s bestmaterial to date, including the pulsating synth anthem ‘I Need A Connection’, which since became aradio favourite also appearing on film and fashion shows throughout the latter half of 2015.

‘The Amber Light’ also included further collaborations with Finders Keepers’ Andy Votel, as well aslong awaited collaborations with Atari / Star Wars synthesist Suzanne Ciani, Tom Furse (keyboardistfrom The Horrors) and Sean Canty from Demdike Stare. Recorded over the course of two long weekends between tours with her custom-built band operating atan energetic optimum, ‘The Amber Light’ captures Jane exuding the passion, experimentalism andjustified confidence which is instantly reflected with some of her best songwriting to date. Currently gearing up for a US tour and within the final throes of recording a brand-new LP for FireRecords, it is a very exciting time for this unique multi-tasking independent female composer whoseloyal long-running fanbase multiplies with everyy closely recorded breath. Trepidation is not requiredhere, ‘The Amber Light’ means you can go.

TRACK LISTING

1. La Pomme D’Argent
2. I Need A Connection
3. You Are Dissolved
4. Cascade In Dark
5. Argent (Tom Furse
6. Extrapolation)
7. The Amber Light (Edit)
8. Parade Of Blood Red Sorrows
9. Neotantrik Globes (Excerpt)

When a handful of broadsheet music columns and reputable blog pages began tomention the vaguely familiar name Jane Weaver in the ‘Here’s One We Missed’-themed features during 2014’s End Of Year round-ups, it became quickly apparent that the singer’s concept album,‘The Silver Globe’, had already independently garnered a ‘must have’ status amongst virtually any self respecting music buyers. But unlike so many other big label campaigns that vied for PR attention viaego-fuelled video promos and down your throat advertising, this unassuming, dedicated, focused piece of experimental female vocal pop was in no way spoon fed to editors nor playlisters. Nor did it fall within the lines of what might have been considered fashionable or culturally relevant.

‘The Silver Globe’ defied species, and for once, was judged on its own merit as a brilliant uncompromising pop record. The sixth album by a long-standing pillar of the North West music scene (loosely based on a lost Polish dystopian feature film and a French novella featuring a personnel of vintage Atari music composers next to Australian synth pioneers) was a simply typical product of the way Jane Weaver has always operated - as an independent and resilient female experimental songwriter, on her own label, on the outskirts of anything that resembles a music industry. Throughout her twenty-year career she has stayed focused, avoided whimsical fads and distractions and used her experience to work as hard as she can when she can. By Christmas ‘The Silver Globe’ had been announced as Piccadilly Records’ Best Album Of The Year, earned a Worldwide Top Ten Track Of The Year accolade by Gilles Peterson, gleaned across the board full-stars and thumbs up from the music press, benefitted unanimous repeat plays from virtually every specialist DJ on 6 Music (amongst many more global radio stations), found DJ mix support from Andrew Weatherall, and filled most of the pages in a twelve month diary with gig and festival requests. Meanwhile, Jane’s own BirdImprint (via Finders Keepers) had to worked around the clock to keep up with stock demands of her new (and old) music. Album collaborators such as David Holmes, Andy Votel and BC Camplight shared gushing pride in the project and with this unanimous critical support (and long earned respect) Jane reacted in the only way she knows best - to keep creating.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: An incredible album, a concept album, a whole world of dreams, a portal. With analogue synths, Krautrock grooves, strange wonky disco and whispy, dislocated folk, Jane created a world of sound you couldn't help but fall in love with and ultimately lose yourself in. The song-writing is top notch, the production incredible, the artwork absolutely beautiful. Everything is perfect about this record.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Silver Globe
2. Argent
3. The Electric Mountain
4. If Only We Could Be In Love
5. Don’t Take My Soul
6. Cells
7. Mission Desire
8. Stealing Gold
9. Arrows
10. Your Time In This Life Is Just
11. Temporary

A brand new six-track EP elevating the acclaimed Jane Weaver album, ‘Flock’, to a new esoteric panorama of pop. ‘Sunset Dreams’ features two unreleased tracks from the ‘Flock’ sessions and remixes from W.H. Lung and See Thru Hands.

“Having earned a cult audience for her psychedelia, Weaver makes her version of a pop record, where Kylie-level hooks are set against hallucinatory backings.” - The Guardian.

Featuring the stand-out ‘Sunset Dreams’ in its original breath-taking form. Plus an extended remix of ‘Solarised’, along with northern combo W.H. Lung’s remix of the track.

“Ominous and luminous, expansively spacious and sonically imploding, scientific, ephemeral and eternal.” - The Quietus.

Furthering the eclectic electronic vibe, there’s also a See Thru Hands mix of ‘The Revolution Of Super Visions’ and two new tracks; ‘The Lexical Distance’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me I’m Wrong’, all capturing the pop vision of this ever-morphing electronic pioneer.

“The high priestess of eccentric exploration Jane Weaver goes pop with superlative results.” - The Line Of Best Fit.

The ‘Sunset Dreams’ EP continues the journey.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1. Sunset Dreams
A2. Solarised (Extended Rework)
A3. The Lexical Distance
Side B
B1. The Revolution Of Supervisions (See Thru Hands Remix)
B2. Solarised (W.H Lung Remix)
B3. Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong

The landmark 40th release in Speedy Wunderground’s singles series is from Manchester (via Widnes)’s titan of the independent UK scene and unshakable figure in experimental pop music Jane Weaver. Having traversed numerous genres across her long and self-propelled career from krautrock to girl-group psyche, indie to folk, grunge to psychedelia – and having worked with an illustrious list of legendary friends and collaborators over the years including Factory Records’ Rob Gretton, Twisted Nerve’s Andy Votel as well as counting Doves and Elbow as early backing bands – this is her first new material since the triumphantly twisted pop of her critically acclaimed Flock album last year.

It's also a first for the label too – with this being the only track in the label’s single series to not be recorded in Carey’s regular Speedy HQ under his family home in Streatham – with this one having been put to tape in the legendary surroundings of Abbey Road Studios.

Carey has been a regular there for a while – having manned the desk numerous times during his career – as well as Christian Wright – one of the in-house mastering engineers there being a close friend of the label and producer. But during COVID the hallowed premises started a series of Lock-In Sessions – a series of events designed to illuminate the musical creative experience – filming and offering a window into what is normally quite a closed process.

‘I was invited to Abbey Road to record as one of their Lock-In Sessions’ recalls Weaver, ‘so asked Dan to be involved. I’ve always admired Dan’s production style - it’s really exciting and dynamic, most records I like these days have his name on them, and for ages I’ve been keen to have a look around his studio and explore the possibilities to do something creative together. We wrote the song at Dan’s place and then recorded most of it at Abbey Road- Studio 3. Having to turn it around, write and record a song from scratch within 24hrs was really exciting as we’d never worked together before, but I knew we shared a joy for certain sounds and equipment- and in true Speedy style it happened pretty quickly.’

As soon as the producer/label heard the resulting track ‘Oblique Fantasy’ it was clear it had to be a ‘Speedy’. Slinky, pulsating bass, ethereal cosmic vocals, jagged minimalist guitar stabs over a menacing krautrock drumbeat – like Roxy Music meets Jane Birkin– it already feels like a classic in the label’s stable and apt that it was written and recorded in exactly the same way –but at the place where some of the most important records of all time were committed to wax.

‘I guess the song is about waiting for passion and inspiration’ says Weaver, ‘writing in lockdown at times wasn’t easy because of the lack of connection, and interaction with others, wanting to write something emotive and pop and looking for a way out of the forced solitude, it was a bit of a puzzle... I guess in the end I’m writing about the longing for normality and that seeming like it was now part of another dimension… a fantasy.’

TRACK LISTING

Oblique Fantasy (Part 1)
Oblique Fantasy (Part 2)

One of the North-West’s finest exponents of otherworldly pop has landed back on earth with an album of shimmering space age bliss. Elements of disco, new wave and krautrock are undoubtedly present in Flock, but Jane never relies on genre tropes to carry her work. Instead, she harnesses familiar rhythmic devices and choices of instrumentation in her own distinctive way. And while comparisons could be drawn between Jane and contemporaries like Vanishing Twin and Gwenno, she has undeniably staked out her own domain within the realm of off-kilter synth pop.

Throughout Flock Jane demonstrates her delicate vocal agility over a series of hypnotic loops and clever synthesis. The lazy disco strut of “The Revolution Of Super Visions” sets up a jangling interplay between Jane’s sweetly sung declamations, new wave style guitar interjections and Cowley-esque synth squelch. While “Modern Reputation” is propelled forwards by a Broadcast style motorik rhythm with electronics whirring in the background and mantra-like vocal loops swirling in a strange ecstasy.

In the title track Jane’s gauzy vocals reverberate over the ebb and flow of a loose knit groove, while in “Sunset Dreams” ornate guitar riffs weave in amongst a haze of twinkling chimes and fizzing sawtooth synthesis. The album culminates in a moment of escapist pop euphoria with final track “Solarised”, laden with cascading arps and irresistible vocal hooks. Once again Jane has succeeded in creating something playful, fresh and unpretentious which is in equal parts a fun and intelligent listen. All hail the cosmic synth queen! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This new outing from Jane Weaver sees Jane and co skirting the outer reaches of Disco, Synth-pop and ambient to stunning effect, rich with hooks but unmeasurably deep, it's one that will reveal more and more with each listen. Unsurprisingly superb.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1 Heartlow
A2 The Revolution Of Super Visions
A3 Stages Of Phases
A4 Lux
A5 Modern Reputation
Side B
B1 Flock
B2 Sunset Dreams
B3 All The Things You Do
B4 Pyramid Schemes
B5 Solarised

This unique package successfully archives the key elements of Jane’s ‘Loops In The Secret Society’ tour. Housed in a concise limited-edition pocket-compendium the new CD version brings Jane’s fully realised ‘Loops Variations’ and sonic installations into your own environment with new illustrations based on the songs by Andy Votel and DVD featuring the experimental film installation featured on the tour by Nick Farrimond. When science fiction turns science fact the effect can be truly momentous. The state demands that no-one wants an unlicensed machine-hum from an outbuilding; no-one wants clever prose mapping the future, no-one wants “music” that is attention-seeking, soul-defining, beneficial, Biblical, baroque and beautiful.

No-one told Jane Weaver that. Jane Weaver’s multi-layered synthetics evolved into a welcoming slew with 2014’s ‘The Silver Globe’, continuing through to 2017’s ‘Modern Kosmology’. ‘Loops In The Secret Society’ is a re-imagined journey through parts of both albums, with new ambient pieces primed and polished; with new tangents explored in a lab-friendly blossoming of the Weaver vision that travels yet further into the psych of our future. A continuous experience with one-line observations set in glorious sense-stimulating sound. That source material was then united in an expansionist experiment in late 2018. The ‘Loops In The Secret Society’ tour fused unrelated sounds set off against sympathetic new textures, tones and drones; hot-housed into an idealistic soundscape that formed the conducive parts of the imminent album of the same name. Co-conspirators include Henry Broadhead, PJ Phillipson and Andy Votel. Renegades all, headed by the enigmatic Weaver all under surveillance. 

TRACK LISTING

1 Element (Loops Variation)
2 Milk Loop
3 Arrows (Loops Variation)
4 Found Birds
5 H>A>K (Loops Variation)
6 Did You See Butterflies (Loops Variation)
7 Sun House
8 I Wish (Loops Variation)
9 Mission Desire (Loops Variation)
10 Battle Ropes
11 Found Birds
12 Slow Motion (Loops Variation)
13 Margins
14 Cells (Loops Variation)
15 Code (Loops Variation)
16 Signs Are Rising
17 Ravenspoint (Loops Variation)
18 Sous Le Même Soleil, Vie Disparu Dans Le Ciel (Loops Variation)
19 Majic Milk (Loops Variation)
20 Conduit
21 Ivana Vessel
22 Battle Ropes

When science fiction turns science fact the effect can be truly momentous. The state demands that no-one wants an unlicensed machine-hum from an outbuilding; no-one wants clever prose mapping the future, no-one wants “music” that is attention-seeking, soul-defining, beneficial, Biblical, baroque and beautiful. No-one told Jane Weaver that.

Jane Weaver’s multi-layered synthetics evolved into a welcoming slew with 2014’s ‘The Silver Globe’, continuing through to 2017’s ‘Modern Kosmology’. ‘Loops In The Secret Society’ is a re-imagined journey through parts of both albums, with new ambient pieces primed and polished; with new tangents explored in a lab-friendly blossoming of the Weaver vision that travels yet further into the psych of our future. A continuous experience with one-line observations set in glorious sense-stimulating sound.

That source material was then united in an expansionist experiment in late 2018. The ‘Loops In The Secret Society’ tour fused unrelated sounds set off against sympathetic new textures, tones and drones ; hot-housed into an idealistic soundscape that formed the conducive parts of the imminent album of the same name.

Co-conspirators include Henry Broadhead, PJ Phillipson and Andy Votel. Renegades all, headed by the enigmatic Weaver – all under surveillance.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Beautiful reinterperations of tracks from Jane's last two albums, interspersed with new ambient style pieces to make a brand new album in its own right. Gorgeous.

TRACK LISTING

1 Element (Loops Variation)
2 Milk Loop
3 Arrows (Loops Variation)
4 Found Birds
5 H>A>K (Loops Variation)
6 Did You See Butterflies (Loops Variation)
7 Sun House
8 I Wish (Loops Variation)
9 Mission Desire (Loops Variation)
10 Battle Ropes
11 Found Birds
12 Slow Motion (Loops Variation)
13 Margins
14 Cells (Loops Variation)
15 Code (Loops Variation)
16 Signs Are Rising
17 Ravenspoint (Loops Variation)
18 Sous Le Même Soleil, Vie Disparu Dans Le Ciel (Loops Variation)
19 Majic Milk (Loops Variation)
20 Conduit
21 Ivana Vessel
22 Battle Ropes

Modern Kosmology sees Jane Weaver's melodic-protagonist channeling new depths of creative cosmic energy within. After the huge critical acclaim of 2012's “Fallen By Watchbird”, followed by 2014's exploratory "Silver Globe" LP winning her unanimous "record of the year accolades" and hefty measures of radio play-listing Jane Weaver's conceptual trajectory has sent her neo-kosmische penchants to the point of no-return. Jane Weaver's unwaning yearning for psychoactive pop energy has just reached a new level of magnetism. As snowclones go, Modern Kosmology is the new Silver. Another Spectrum to add to the tension.

TRACK LISTING

A1 H>A>K
A2 Did You See Butterflies?
A3 Modern Kosmology
A4 Slow Motion
A5 Loops In The Secret Society
B1 The Architect
B2 The Lightning Back
B3 Valley
B4 Ravenspoint
B5 I Wish

Like all good parables Jane Weaver’s sixth solo album, a concept album called ‘The Silver Globe’, is as multifaceted as it is beguiling. Part coming of age / part cautionary tale and part romantic paeon, this twelve track synth ridden post-apocalyptic prog pop opus is based on tightly embroidered, non-linear recurring themes and inspired by esoteric stories, cosmic imagery and refiltered past experiences.

Written from the optimistic vantage of a long-standing female independent artist, in an desperately evolving industry, Jane’s latest set of self penned pop abstractions combine mechanical rock / recycled European cinema / empyrean vocalisations and an arsenal of rescued vintage synths to create a futurist narrative backdrop of a allegorical post apocalyptic landscape.

‘The Silver Globe’ features collaborations with David Holmes, Australian space rockers Cybotron, Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy), Suzanne Ciani and Andy Votel, as well as a recycled chunk of an 80s Hawkwind track.

As well as being voted our album of 2014, by the end of last year, ‘The Silver Globe’ had earned a Worldwide Top Ten Track Of The Year accolade by Gilles Peterson, gleaned across the board full-stars and thumbs up from the music press, benefitted unanimous repeat plays from virtually every specialist DJ on BBC6 Music (amongst many more global radio stations), found DJ mix support from Andrew Weatherall and filled most of the pages in a twelve month diary with gig and festival requests. Meanwhile, Jane’s own Bird Imprint (via Finders Keepers) has worked around the clock to keep up with stock demands of her new (and old) music. Album collaborators such as David Holmes, Andy Votel and BC Camplight share gushing pride in the project and with this unanimous critical support (and long earned respect) Jane has reacted in the only way she knows best - to keep creating.

Barely six months since its initial release Jane releases an expanded edition of ‘The Silver Globe’, including a second full-length disc called ‘The Amber Light’, which follows the original album with the same dedication and adventurous zeal.

With a title that alludes to the toils of trepidation and a running theme of industrial procreativity and DIY handy craft, ‘The Amber Light’ carves a niche between new age motivational music, Radiophonic folk and snarling Krautrock, echoing the kosmische stylings of ‘The Silver Globe’ with the punk urgency of 80s domestic-synth pop. Featuring four brand new songs, three exclusive instrumental themes (including a commissioned theme from an American vampire film) and three new collaborative re-workings / duets based on tracks from ‘The Silver Globe’, this extensive package harbours co-production work from Tom Furse (The Horrors), Andy Votel, Suzanne Ciani, members of Demdike Stare and original ‘Silver Globe’ inhabitants Pete J Phillipson and Martin King.

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2014.

Like all good parables Jane Weaver’s sixth solo album, a concept album called ‘The Silver Globe’, is as multifaceted as it is beguiling. Part coming of age / part cautionary tale and part romantic paeon, this twelve track synth ridden post-apocalyptic prog pop opus is based on tightly embroidered, non-linear recurring themes and inspired by esoteric stories, cosmic imagery and refiltered past experiences.

Written from the optimistic vantage of a long-standing female independent artist, in an desperately evolving industry, Jane’s latest set of self penned pop abstractions combine mechanical rock / recycled European cinema / empyrean vocalisations and an arsenal of rescued vintage synths to create a futurist narrative backdrop of a allegorical post apocalyptic landscape.

‘The Silver Globe’ features collaborations with David Holmes, Australian space rockers Cybotron, Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy), Suzanne Ciani and Andy Votel, as well as a recycled chunk of an 80s Hawkwind track.

Click here to view the full Q&A that Jane Weaver did with Piccadilly Records for our End Of Year Review Booklet 2014.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: An incredible album, a concept album, a whole world of dreams, a portal. With analogue synths, Krautrock grooves, strange wonky disco and whispy, dislocated folk, Jane created a world of sound you couldn't help but fall in love with and ultimately lose yourself in. The song-writing is top notch, the production incredible, the artwork absolutely beautiful. Everything is perfect about this record.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Silver Globe
2. Argent
3. The Electric Mountain
4. Arrows
5. Don't Take My Soul
6. Cells
7. Mission Desire
8. Stealing Gold
9. If Only We Could Be In Love
10. Your Time In This Life Is Just Temporary

Remaining faithful to her influences of Germanic märchen tales, Eastern European children’s cinema and mechanical pop music, Jane Weaver expands her critically acclaimed ‘Fallen By Watchbird’ concept album in this ten chapter sequel-of-sorts by employing a cast of new actors and narrators to reinterpret her surreal ‘cosmic aquatic folklore’.

Here Jane experiments with volks-music in its purest, most innocent form using modern tools to re-tell and recycle secondhand stories. Inspired by post-war cinematic interpretations and hand-me-down mistranslations of global folk tales, Jane has collaborated with a close-knit group of musicians, noisemakers and vocalists / narrators to create automatic-music and reilluminate an eleven-page novella about telepathy, technology, lost-love, wiccan, war and watchbirds.

As part of ongoing voice and electronic experiments with the people behind Pre-Cert Records, ‘The Watchbird Alluminate’ includes a wordless vocal introduction and interlude from both Demdike Stare and the elusive Anworth Kirk, while the spoken-word narrative of Finders Keepers’ lost American pop folk singer Susan Christie is reinterpreted by Ghostbox’s Focus Group with results comparable to Ruth White’s 1968 electronic / vox interpretations of Baudelaire’s ‘Flowers Of Evil’.

Jane’s own Bird Records label roster contributes two new cover versions of Weaver’s self-penned tracks re-sung by Italian singer Emma Tricca and Rochdale’s time-slipped falsetto soloist Magpahi (in a track evokes cinematic scenes from ‘Night Of The Hunter’ or ‘The Innocents’). Elsewhere vintage soft-pop royalty appears in the form of a lead vocal from Wendy & Bonnie’s, Wendy Flower, a close friend and confidant of Jane’s since their first collaborations in New York and London in 2006 at the request of Jarvis Cocker for his guest curation at the Meltdown festival.

Other lead performances from Weaver add a new poetic twist to the story in both solo capacity and alongside Samandtheplants’ Sam McLoughlin, whose ‘Natural / Supernatural Lancashire’ library project (with Alison Cooper) from 2010 still resonates as one of that year’s finest new releases.

With a unique approach to making non-linear mechanical music, this pop-up collective adds a further creative perspective to the oft mistreated ‘concept album’ virtually eliminating genre distinction in favour of communal noise - a unique product of genuinely independent music which continues to sprout further branches.

TRACK LISTING

Europium Alluminate (With Demdike Stare)
A Circle And A Star Part 1 (With The Focus Group & Susan Christie)
The Fallen By Watchbird (Video Mix)
Turning In Circles (By Emma Tricca)
Majic Milk
Whispers Of Winter (with Wendy Flower)
Noctilmina (with Anworth Kirk)
My Soul Was Lost, My Soul Was Lost And No-One Saved Me (by Magpahi)
Silver Chord (with Samandtheplants)
A Circle And A Star Part 2 (with The Focus Group & Susan Christie)