To celebrate the release of his new solo album, we are excited to welcome Andy to Piccadilly Records on Wednesday 5th March at 6pm, to perform an intimate live set. If you want attend the show, please order the ticket bundle version of the LP HERE

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell’s third solo album pinball wanderer is an otherworldly collection of intergalactic wizardry that mixes psychedelic melodies, Can-via-The Stone Roses grooves and Arthur Russell-style experimental textures.

With guest appearances from Dot Allison and Neu! legend Michael Rother on a cover of The Passions’ peerless post-punk classic ‘I’m In Love With A German Film Star’, it is perfect for both deep-listening headphones moments and cutting across the coolest, most understated dancefloors.

The loose-limbed rhythm tracks were the starting point and were laid down with the help of Andy’s old Oasis bandmate Gem Archer. The rest followed after an intense all-night session last summer, with the completed album being delivered the following morning. It’s Andy’s finest work to date; a quintessential nighttime record where you can slip through the gaps in the notes and revel in the moment.

TRACK LISTING

Panic Attack
I’m In Love…
Madder Lake Deep
Apple Green Ufo
Pinball Wanderer
Music Concrete
The Notes You Never Hear
Space Station Mantra
I’m In Love… (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Remix) – CD Only
I’m In Love… (GLOK Remix) - CD Only
I’m In Love… (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Dub) - CD Only

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell’s third solo album pinball wanderer is an otherworldly collection of intergalactic wizardry that mixes psychedelic melodies, Can-via-The Stone Roses grooves and Arthur Russell-style experimental textures.

With guest appearances from Dot Allison and Neu! legend Michael Rother on a cover of The Passions’ peerless post-punk classic ‘I’m In Love With A German Film Star’, it is perfect for both deep-listening headphones moments and cutting across the coolest, most understated dancefloors.

The loose-limbed rhythm tracks were the starting point and were laid down with the help of Andy’s old Oasis bandmate Gem Archer. The rest followed after an intense all-night session last summer, with the completed album being delivered the following morning. It’s Andy’s finest work to date; a quintessential nighttime record where you can slip through the gaps in the notes and revel in the moment.

TRACK LISTING

Panic Attack
I’m In Love…
Madder Lake Deep
Apple Green Ufo
Pinball Wanderer
Music Concrete
The Notes You Never Hear
Space Station Mantra
I’m In Love… (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Remix) – CD Only
I’m In Love… (GLOK Remix) - CD Only
I’m In Love… (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Dub) - CD Only

A limited-edition 4CD box set released to coincide with the cult shoegaze label’s 20th anniversary. It features 62 tracks, many of which are previously unreleased, plus rare remixes, showstopping live recordings and a shoegaze Christmas compilation. Includes Slowdive, Andy Bell (Ride), Emma Anderson (Lush), bdrmm, Whitelands and deary, plus remixes by Andrew Weatherall, James Holden, David Holmes, Daniel Avery and many more. Across the four discs, the box set tells the story of Sonic Cathedral from its humble beginnings as a club night in 2004 to its present-day position at the centre of the never-ending shoegaze revival, after playing a huge part in repopularising the once maligned genre over the past two decades.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Banging the drum for shoegaze when nobody was listening, this absolutely sensational box set celebrates 20 years of one of the best labels around - Sonic Cathedral. With contributions from shoegaze legends (Slowdive, Andy Bell) to current torchbearers (Deary, Whitelands), this set is perfect for both newcomers and veterans of the genre alike.

TRACK LISTING

CD1 - Celebrate Yourself! A Compilation Of Sonic Cathedral Classics
1. Pye Corner Audio Feat. Andy Bell – Warmth Of Te Sun (Edit) – First Physical Release
2. Te Early Years – Fluxus
3. Mark Peters Feat. Dot Allison – Switched On – First Physical Release
4. Dot Allison Feat. Andy Bell – Unchanged (Edit) – First Physical Release
5. Cheval Sombre – It’s Not Time
6. Neil Halstead – Spin Te Botle (Alternative Version) – First Physical Release
7. Mildred Maude – CPA II
8. Yeti Lane – Dead Tired
9. Lorelle Meets Te Obsolete – Balance
10. Horsegirl – Sea Life Sandwich Boy – First Time On CD
11. Dummy – Slacker Mask – First Time On CD
12. Tree Quarter Skies – On Fire (Edit) – First Physical Release
13. Moon Diagrams – Rewop
14. Andy Bell – Skwalker (Edit) – First Physical Release
15 Not Me But Us – When We See (Edit) – First Physical Release
16. MOLLY – Te Golden Age (Edit) – First Physical Release
17. Emma Anderson – Queen Moth – Exclusive To This Release
18. Deary – Fairground
19. Whitelands Feat. Dotie – Tell Me About It
20. Bdrmm – A Reason To Celebrate

CD2 - Recalibrate Yourself! A Collection Of Sonic Cathedral Remixes
1. Andy Bell – Te Sk Without You (David Holmes Radical Mycology Remix)
2. Pye Corner Audio Feat. Andy Bell – Saturation Point (Sonic Boom Remix) – First Time On CD
3. Lorelle Meets Te Obsolete – Unificado (Pye Corner Audio Remix) – First Time On CD
4. Not Me But Us – When We See (Maps Remix) – First Physical Release
5. Te Early Years – Hall Of Mirrors (Andrew Weatherall Remix II) – First Time On CD
6. Cheval Sombre – Couldn’t Do (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s Remix) – First Time On CD
7. Bdrmm – Port (Daniel Avery Remix)
8. Sobrenadar – Del Tiempo (Slowdive Remix) – First Time On CD
9. XAM Duo – Cold Stones (James Holden Remix) – First Time On CD
10. Dot Allison Feat. Andy Bell – Unchanged (GLOK Remix) – First Physical Release
11. Mark Peters Feat. Dot Allison – Sundowning (Richard Norris Ambient Remix) – First Physical Release

CD3 - Reverberate Yourself! A Congregation Of Sonic Cathedral Live Recordings
1. Lorelle Meets Te Obsolete – What’s Holding You? – Golden Hair (Recorded At Te
Victoria, London 10.04.14) – First Time On CD
2. Andy Bell & Masal – Hallogallo (Recorded At Te Social, London 21.05.23) – First Time On CD
3. Disappears – Speed Of Life (Recorded At Te 100 Club, London 23.11.15) – First Time On CD
4. Te Early Years – Te Simple Solution (Recorded At Te 100 Club, London 15.10.14) – First Time On CD
5. Bdrmm – Momo – Push/Pull (Recorded At Te Nave, Leeds 16.08.20) – First Time On CD
6. Pye Corner Audio – Excerpt From Social Dissonance (Recorded At Te Social, London 23.10.19) – First Time On CD
7. XAM Duo – Excerpt From Live At Te Total Refreshment Centre (Recorded At Te Total Refreshment Centre, London 05.11.16) – First Time On CD
8. Mark Peters – Sundowning (Recorded At Te Band Room, Yorkshire 08.04.23) – First Physical Release
9. Sennen – Nightime (Recorded At Goldsmiths Music Studios, London 12.06.21)
10. Dean Wareham – When Will You Come Home (Recorded At St Pancras Old Church, London 05.12.13) – First Time On CD
11. Cheval Sombre – Where Did Our Love Go (Recorded At St Pancras Old Church,
London 22.11.12) – First Time On CD
12. Deary – Want You (Recorded At St Pancras Old Church, London 23.11.23) – First
Physical Release
13. Slowdive– Golden Hair (Recorded At Te Teatre At Ace Hotel, Los Angeles 09.11.14) – First Time On CD

CD4 - Celebrate Your Elf! A Constellation Of Sonic Cathedral Christmas Songs
1. Mark Peters – Te Box Of Delights – First Time On CD
2. Tree Quarter Skies – Holy Water (Single Version) – First Time On CD
3. Andy Bell – Listen, Te Snow Is Falling
4. Pye Corner Audio – Omnichord Omnishambles (At Xmas) – First Physical Release
5. Younghusband – I Don’t Intend To Spend Christmas Without You – First Physical Release
6. Spectres – Wonderful Christmastime – First Time On CD
7. A Place To Bury Strangers – Celebration – Exclusive To This Release
8. Fairewell – Christmas Eve – First Time On CD
9. Pye Corner Audio – A Winter Drone For Christmas – First Physical Release
10. Mark Peters – Silent Night – First Physical Release
11. Dawn Chorus And Te Infallible Sea – O Holy Night – Exclusive To This Release
12. MOLLY – Andachtsjodler – Exclusive To This Release
13. Deary – 2000 Miles
14. Mark Peters – Jingle Bells – First Physical Release
15. Fairewell – In Te Bleak Midwinter – First Time On CD
16. Pye Corner Audio – Get Tee Behind Me Santa – First Physical Release
17. Mark Peters – Te Box Of Delights (Maps Remix) – First Time On CD
18. Maps - Stay Another Day - First Official Release

Just under a year after their acclaimed self-titled debut, dreampop duo deary release a brand new six-track EP – Aurelia – via Sonic Cathedral on November 1.

It includes the singles ‘The Moth’, ‘Selene’ and ‘The Drift’ and features Slowdive drummer Simon Scott playing on three songs. It will be available on three different vinyl variants, a CD with three bonus tracks and digitally.

It’s a stunning record, which displays a new-found maturity in terms of production as well as musically and lyrically. The band – singer Rebecca ‘Dottie’ Cockram and guitarist/producer Ben Easton – have had to grow up in public since the release of their debut single at the start of 2023, supporting legends such as Slowdive and Cranes and TikTok sensations like Wisp along the way.

An aurelian is a rare old term for a lepidopterist – someone who studies and collects moths – derived from the Latin aurelia, meaning chrysalis. The perfect title for an EP which is based around the theme of metamorphosis and change.

“It leans on the natural world, the human body, the earth and sky as well as human emotion,” says Ben of how the EP represents physical and metaphysical growth. “Change can be daunting but equally exciting, which is something we’ve come to learn.”

“While writing the EP, I found a letter I had written to myself when I was 22,” adds Dottie. “I was fresh out of university and had moved back in with my parents as Covid was in full force. I was uninspired and lost and reaching out to my future self for some hope. It was a physical representation of what can happen in a few years; how much can change and how you never know what’s coming next.

“I found it interesting that – at the age of 26 – here I was looking back to my younger self for hope or just some comfort in the fact that things will and do move on. It was important to me to bring both of these versions of myself into the new songs.”

“Personally, I had noticed a change in myself; a new level of social anxiety, a strange disassociation to things that once brought me joy as well as negative repetitions in my daily life,” reveals Ben. “I began the year sober which allowed me to finish the writing process as a letter of care to my own mental health. There are motifs throughout the EP – for example the riffs in ‘The Moth’ and ‘The Drift’ being reminiscent of each other – which are like musical reflections of these repeated cycles.”

It’s musically where the change deary have undergone is most obvious. ‘The Moth’ mixes howling guitars atop a strident breakbeat making it more Curve than Cocteaus; ‘Selene’ is a slow-building wall of noise; ‘The Drift’ combines a perfect pop melody with an incredible sense of urgency. These three singles are balanced by the brief but beautiful ‘Where You Are’ which leads into the Portishead-style trip-hop of ‘Dream Of Me’. The title track has been a staple of their live sets for about a year as ‘Can’t Sleep Tonight’, but its mix of The Cure circa Disintegration and Mezzanine Massive Attack has grown and evolved so much that they renamed it ‘Aurelia’ as the embodiment of the change they have been through.

“We’ve allowed deary to naturally grow over the past year, we didn’t want to force it to take a certain shape or sound,” explains Dottie of the duo’s slow and steady approach. “A lot of the last EP was written by sending ideas back and forth over WhatsApp, but this time we were able to sit in the same room and I think that really shows. We know each other a lot better now as we have experienced this journey together and that benefits the writing process as we are more open with each other and can be vulnerable.”

“Aurelia definitely feels a lot more collaborative, more personal and more fully realised than the first EP,” concludes Ben. “It feels like a real document of what has been a very important time in both of our lives. Ironically, the band has changed and matured even more since the recording, so we’re both excited to document the next stage.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Stunning new EP from one of my current faves Deary. Gorgeous and ethereal shoegaze that'll transport you back to the 90s, fans of Slowdive need to hop on this immediately. Deary and Sonic Cathedral, if you're reading, we're begging for the debut album - next year pretty please...

TRACK LISTING

Aurelia
The Moth
Selene
The Drift
Where You Are
Dream Of Me

CD-only Bonus Tracks:
Can’t Sleep Tonight (demo Version)
The Moth (acoustic)
Selene (acoustic)

Consisting of new versions of all 10 tracks from last year’s debut solo album, Lush and Sing-Sing co-founder Emma Anderson arrives with 'Spiralée: Pearlies Rearranged' - with track reimagined by Julia Holter, LoneLady, The Orielles, deary, Daniel Hunt (Ladytron), Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, MEMORIALS, Concretism, Masal and original album producer James Chapman, aka Maps.

"We aren’t calling it a remix album, because it is so much more than that – everything has been rearranged, from the tracks to the running order and the anagrammatic title (which led to Stuart Jones’ stunning Spirograph-meets-Saul Bass artwork) and the result is, essentially, a brand-new record. It was a chance to get some really inventive people to take the tracks and turn them on their heads and that’s exactly what has happened,” explains Emma. “We selected an interesting array of artists and gave them the stems without any direction to see what they would come up with. The result is absolutely brilliant and is a record that stands alone without even knowing what the originals are like.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Willow And Mallow (Daniel Hunt Mix)
2. The Presence (Concretism Mix)
3. Clusters (LoneLady Lost Minds Mix)
4. For A Moment (Deary Dub Mix)
5. Xanthe (Witching Time Version)
6. Inter Light (MEMORIALS Mix)
7. Taste The Air (Julia Holter Mix)
8. Tonight Is Mine (Lorelle Meets The Obsolete 84-86 Mix)
9. Bend The Round (The Orielles Blend The Round Mix)
10. I Was Miles Away (Masal Spectral Mix)

A special repress of the 2020 debut album by bdrmm which was hailed by The Guardian as a lockdown classic on its original release and ended up in Rough Trade’s top ten albums of the year. The release is part of Sonic Cathedral’s 20th anniversary celebrations which will also see the band playing through the album in full (alongside Ride, Pye Corner Audio and Moon Diagrams) at Hackney Church in London on October 12.

“A modern day shoegaze classic” – NME “The general roller coaster of being twenty-somethings in post-Brexit England who find themselves awash with a shimmering soundscape that recalls Oshin-era DIIV, Deerhunter’s Microcastle, or even The Cure at their most ambiently grandiose” – Under The Radar.

“At a time when we’re all looking for aural salvation from the chaotic inundation of all that is happening around us, bdrmm are the salve that eases the wounds of an archaic society, showing that anxieties are a natural flow of life” – Gigwise.

TRACK LISTING

1. Momo
2. Push/Pull
3. A Reason To Celebrate
4. Gush
5. Happy
6. (The Silence)
7. (Un)happy
8. If....
9. Is That What You Wanted To Hear?
10. Forget The Credits

A year after its original release, Mexican duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete are putting out a limited edition vinyl version of their Remezcla EP, expanded with two extra tracks. Pressed on neon green vinyl and limited to 250 copies, the EP features reworkings of six tracks from 2023’s hugely acclaimed album Datura by SUUNS, Dälek, MEMORIALS, Invisible Dog (aka LA-based musician Adam Payne) and Immersion (aka Colin Newman of Wire and Malka Spigel of Minimal Compact). Ranging from indie-dance and avant-garde hip-hop to drone and celestial indie-pop, it’s the perfect companion piece to the album. “The whole EP is kind of a ‘pinch me’ moment,” says LMTO guitarist Alberto González. “The fascinating thing with remixes is that you never really know what to expect when you invite someone to collaborate. You sign up for the unknown. We are truly grateful for how everyone shapeshifted these songs. “Now it’s coming out on vinyl, it’s like the EP is finally getting justice in every sense. I guess there’s something about physical media that you can’t beat. Daniel Castrejon’s artwork is much more powerful once printed. All this work is all meant to be released physically. “It’s truly special and it also feels like a nice transition to what's coming next. All the period around Datura has been highly educational and transformative for us, so this is a nice way to wrap it up and embrace the next phase.” 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Nice to get this selection of remixes on vinyl, featuring a number of different reworks by bands including Suuns and Invisible Dog. Though the vibes in the pieces are all significantly different, their shared DNA is clear to hear, and helps to make this disparate selection flow as if it was created together. A great listen.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Óvalo (Invisible Dog Remix)
2. Datura (MEMORIALS Remix)
3. Invisible (Immersion Remix)
Side B
4. Dos Noches (Deadverse Remix By Dälek)
5. Dínamo (SUUNS Remix)
6. Arco (Invisible Dog Remix)

Three Quarter Skies – the new band formed by Simon Scott from Slowdive – release their debut album Fade In. It was recorded by Simon and mixed with the help of elusive Flying Saucer Attack mainman Dave Pearce.The eight-track album includes the singles ‘Crows’ and ‘Leave A Light On’, a Nick Drake cover and brand new versions of ‘Holy Water’ and ‘Pieces Of Roslin’, which was originally released on last year’s introductory EP, Universal Flames.

While that grew out of a semi-improvised live recording, the new album is as focused as it is ferocious; a cohesive body of work that came together after a fertile creative period following the death of Simon’s mother earlier this year.“My creative well was already beginning to overflow and losing my mum pushed me over the edge,” says Simon. “I didn’t want to write pretty tunes, or sentimental and saccharine music about love or pretend how happy and healthy the world is.

Three Quarter Skies’ songs are angry, noisy, turbulent, stubborn and petulant.”As a result, Fade In is a heavy listen – opener ‘Slight Betrayal’ has a nagging sense of motion sickness before the fuzzy hopefulness of ‘Leave A Light On’; there’s the post-new normal rumble of ‘Superwoman’, the feedback folk of ‘In The Night’ and ‘Crows’, with its “vivid and surreal” attempts to process grief.

“It’s an album of profound despair, anxiety, frustration and loss,” says Simon. “It’s been therapeutic to scream into walls of feedback.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Simon Scott's Three Quarter skies swims in the shoegaze waters of his parent band, (Piccadilly No.1 of 2023, Slowdive) but with a heavy lean into flickering electronic foundations and cathartic post-rock adjacent guitar. It's an intense exploration of emotion and melody, and it's brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

1. Slight Betrayal
2. Horn
3. Leave A Light On
4. Crows
5. Holy Water
6. Superwoman
7. Pieces Of Roslin
8. In The Night
9. On Fire (CD Only)

Moon Diagrams – the solo project of Deerhunter co-founder and drummer Moses Archuleta – returns with a second album, Cemetery Classics, on June 21. The 12-track album is a co-release between Sonic Cathedral (in the UK and Europe) and Angus Andrew from Liars’ new label No Gold (in the US and the ROW) and was mixed by James Ford. It features guests including Anastasia Coope, Patrick Flegel (Cindy Lee) and Josh Diamond (Gang Gang Dance). It’s Moses’ first new music since 2019’s Trappy Bats mini-album and the follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed debut Lifetime of Love and everything seems a bit more extreme – from the Basinski-esque degradation of ‘Neptune’ to the Faustian industrial noise of ‘Listen To Me’ via Art of Noise-style postmodern pop (the first single ‘Very Much My Promise to You’), Daft Punk bangers (‘Fifteen Shows at One Time’), trip-hop, shoegaze, Jan Hammer, Depeche Mode, late Leonard Cohen and more. “It’s about finding out your arms are too short to box with god,” says Moses of the emotional force that courses through Cemetery Classics. “It’s the inverse of a desert island disc – a graveyard disc. Songs to take into the afterlife.”

TRACK LISTING

1. NRG
2. Mousetrap
3. Fifteen Shows At One Time
4. Metallics In Fur
5. Big Ref
6. Rewop
7. Brand New Effie
8. Neptune
9. Very Much My Promise To You
10. Listen To Me
11. Left Hand Of God
12. Fragment Rock

Reveries is Zach Frizzell, Marc Ertel and Damien Duque’s first album for over three years, and follows the success of their debut Liberamente. Together, the trio craft delicately textured and slowly unfurling sonic vistas, occupying a unique aural domain that lies between guitar-driven drone music and modern classical compositions.

With their individual projects they are incredibly prolific, but Dawn Chorus releases are few and far between and Reveries represents a refined evolution, leaning more heavily toward string-based arrangements and compositional virtuosity. It is the very essence of what they are calling “dronegaze”, pushing the boundaries of the ambient genre while embracing a profound auditory expression.

According to the trio, the six, long tracks on Reveries are “heavily reliant on improvisation, intuition, and allowing the compositions to exist in their own moment; the aim was a feeling of fluidity and a sense that every instrument has its place and purpose”.

And they’re right. The opening title track emerges quietly in a swirl of strings; lead single ‘Deus’ eases its fittingly reverent grain into a glorious minor-key immensity; ‘Cadere’ pulls together a cast of orchestral instruments into a comforting devotional; ‘Somnium’ plays out in diffuse, shimmering melodic rounds; ‘Vale’ blossoms from a pair of sparse, alternating chord swells; and ‘Aufero’ is the perfect coda that reprises the low-end rumble of the album’s overture before being swept away on a sea of dissonance.

“We live in an era of infinite distraction,” says Zach Frizzell, “where often the most valuable thing you can find is a respite for the soul.” How right he is. This, truly, is music from a higher place.

TRACK LISTING

1. Reveries
2. Deus
3. Cadere
4. Somnium
5. Vale
6. Aufero

Not Me But Us are a new duo from Naples, Italy formed by acclaimed pianist and composer Bruno Bavota (who records for Temporary Residence) and electronic producer Fabrizio Somma (aka K-Conjog).

Together they have made Two, a beautiful album that blends both of their influences with added echoes of ambient, techno, 2000s club culture, post-classical and post-rock. It’s a stunning record and proof that when two very different musicians meet it’s always possible for magic to happen. The eight tracks are a testament to their ability to translate raw emotion into a musical journey, forging a connection that goes beyond sound. 

TRACK LISTING

1. No Words
2. Inner Space
3. Interlocking Mechanics
4. Buildings
5. In A Box
6. Nocturnal Humans
7. When We See
8. Us
9. Nocturnal Emissions*
*CD-only Bonus Track

Whitelands are Etienne, Jagun, Vanessa and Michael and they are ostensibly a shoegaze band ever since Etienne stumbled across Slowdive’s KEXP session in his recommended videos on YouTube a few years ago. However, they come at the resurgent, Gen Z-soundtracking genre from a refreshingly different angle thanks to their mishmash of musical backgrounds. There’s also the fact that their line-up is fully PoC in what is traditionally seen as a predominantly white genre.

“There’s an underlying narrative that it’s OK for white men to be romantic, sensitive, emotional and make dreamy music and, by contrast, young Black men should be making angry music,” says Vanessa. “We’ve all grown up with these stereotypes and therefore I think people are mystified when they see Whitelands.” “I consume a lot of media,” says Etienne of his wide range of influences. “Videogames, music, news, paintings, manga, animations and film are my go-to, especially anime. There is this drive to want to understand and feel the whole weight of an expression. So, the songs are based on other songs, pictures, aesthetics, ‘vibes’, an emotion someone else felt. Fundamentally, you are what you eat.”

As a result of this diet, the lyrics are stunning, dealing with everything from unbalanced relationships and vulnerability to depression, being diagnosed with ADHD and, on the new single ‘Tell Me About It’ (featuring vocals by Dottie from the band’s Sonic Cathedral labelmates deary), trying to navigate love following that diagnosis.

The album is bookended by two poetically political songs – ‘Setting Sun’ and ‘Now Here’s The Weather’ – that deal with imperialism, racism and performative ignorance.

“We’ve experienced tokenism, micro-behaviours, envy and resentment,” concludes Vanessa. “So we feel we have to continually prove ourselves. We know we’re making a positive impact, but I want Whitelands to really break some barriers.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Massive shoegaze tip!!! I've been loving their track 'Tell Me About It' (which is complete ethereal bliss) for the past month and thankfully the rest of this LP from Whitelands lives up to the anticipation. With sprinklings of DIIV, Slowdive and even an appearance from fellow gazers Deary, 'Night-bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day' is proper reverb drenched goodness that manages to avoid the derivative trappings many modern shoegaze acts can sometimes fall in to. It also has the Slowdive seal of approval as it was mastered by drummer Simon Scott, with the shoegaze legends also taking Whitelands out on tour with them - so how's that for a recommendation? MEGA!

TRACK LISTING

1. Setting Sun
2. The Prophet & I
3. Cheer
4. Tell Me About It
5. How It Feels
6. Chosen Light
7. Born In Understanding
8. Now Here’s The Weather

The eponymous debut EP by London-based dreampop duo deary on Sonic Cathedral. The six-track release is available on frosted clear 12” viny and on CD (with five additional bonus tracks and remixes).

Their debut single ‘Fairground’, which came out at the end of January, was an instant classic. A mix of shoegaze beauty and trip-hop beats, it was amazing to see people falling in love with it in real time as it gained airplay around the world, a remix by Saint Etienne and hit number one on the Official Charts’ vinyl singles chart.

The EP includes the follow-up, the deliciously dark ‘Beauty In All Blue Satin’, and new single ‘Sleepsong’, plus three other tracks, and follows their support slot with Slowdive at the Troxy in London. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Deary mixes the drifting shoegazey heft of Ride with crisp trip-hop percussion, hypnotic bass plucks and dreamy pop vocals, resulting in a hazy fever dream of an EP, and a perfect release for the brilliant Sonic Cathedral.

TRACK LISTING

1. Heaven
2. Only Need
3. Fairground
4. Want You
5. Sleepsong
6. Beauty In All Blue Satin

CD-only Bonus Tracks:
7. 2000 Miles
8. Fairground (Hide In Glass Mix)
9. Fairground (Saint Etienne Meet Augustin Bousfield At The Top Of Town Mix)
10. Fairground (Extended Mix)
11. Fairground (Live) 

Following the news that all three Lush albums are going to be reissued, Emma Anderson, the band’s co-founder, has announced her debut solo album, Pearlies, which will be released by Sonic Cathedral on October 20, 2023.One of the most underrated British songwriters to emerge from the era that encompassed shoegaze and Britpop, she has teamed up with producer James Chapman (aka Maps) for this collection that combines effervescent electronic pop with psych and folk textures with lyrics covering themes such as confronting your fears, embracing independence and moving on in life.

It arrives fully formed with a burnished beauty (aided by the mastering skills of Heba Kadry) that belies its somewhat protracted creation, which began with Emma feeling disillusioned after Lush’s 2016 reunion came to an abrupt end. Left with songs and bits of music originally intended for the band, she began working with cellist and string arranger Audrey Riley and Robin Guthrie, formerly of the Cocteau Twins, both of whom encouraged her to sing her own songs. Covid put a temporary halt on proceedings, but the decision had been made. When Sonic Cathedral introduced her to James Chapman at the start of 2022, Pearlies quickly took shape and blossomed into a masterpiece, the perfect mix of Emma’s incredible, idiosyncratic songwriting and James’ electronic production nous. Plus, a little extra guitar magic on four tracks courtesy of Richard Oakes from Suede.

The finished album has somehow written its own narrative. By her own admission, Emma tends to write words and “see what comes out”, but Pearlies seems to tell the story of her decision to go it alone, with opener ‘I Was Miles Away’ posing the question: “See if I make it on my own”. The rest of the album provides the answer as it takes in everything from the unexpectedly funky first single ‘Bend The Round’, to folky finger-picking and film theme references, via psych leaning electronic pop reminiscent of Goldfrapp or Melody’s Echo Chamber. It concludes with ‘Clusters’, a stunning, Stereolab-style groove which begins with the line “and now the party’s over, the music’s at the end”. Thankfully, that is not the case. This incredible album is just the start of Emma’s long-awaited solo journey.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Emma Anderson presents her first solo album for the wonderful Sonic Cathedral, showing hints of her history in Lush but with a vigour and airy carless ease we've not heard before. It's both wildly beautiful and unendingly deep, arguably her finest work of all (Sorry Lush). Brilliant musician, and a beautiful album.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Was Miles Away
2. Bend The Round
3. Inter Light
4. Taste The Air
5. Xanthe
6. The Presence
7. Willow And Mallow
8. Tonight Is Mine
9. For A Moment
10. Clusters

Mexican duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete make a very welcome return with their sixth album, Datura. Recorded at their home studio in Ensenada, Baja California, it was mixed in Canada by Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes and mastered in Australia by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Total Control, among many others.

It’s a short, sharp shock of a record with no unnecessary adornments and no fat on any of its eight songs. Gone are the psychedelic wig-outs found on previous releases, replaced with bass-heavy post-punk grooves inspired by the roots of The Congos, the no wave of Ike Yard, the industrial hip-hop of Dälek and the dark modular moves of Hiro Kone, all while harnessing the elemental power of Jon Hassell’s Vernal Equinox.

“One of the rules that we had when writing was to keep the songs minimal in terms of instrumentation,” explains guitarist Alberto González. “We didn’t want to do overdubs and endless layers this time around,” adds singer and guitarist Lorena Quintanilla. “We limited ourselves to the instrumentation of the new, four-piece line-up and we recorded almost everything live. The songs had to be very solid.”

“We easily get bored with what we do, music-wise, so that motivates us into keeping things fresh and different,” continues Alberto, as he explains the change of direction. “Each album is a good representation of where we are at. We fear the thought of being trapped in the same ideas from years ago. There’s something about nostalgia that creeps me out.”

Strangely, it was nostalgia that inspired the change. The duo marked their tenth anniversary in 2021 by playing reworked songs from their back catalogue and sharing videos online. The new arrangements saw them swapping between synths and guitars, and this – as well as Lorena’s two acclaimed solo releases as J. Zunz – has informed the new set-up.

The live in the room feel of the album also came from watching The Beatles do the same in Get Back. (One of a number of inspirations on the album including the poetry of Mario Montalbetti, the TV series Atlanta, Eugenio Polgovsky’s documentaries and Arturo Ripstein’s movies).

Jace Lasek was the perfect person to bring this feeling to the fore. “That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about The Besnard Lakes’ records,” says Alberto. “And I really think he brought that to Datura. The only note we gave him before the mix was ‘we want this album to sound big and aggressive’.” It worked, that’s exactly how it sounds.

Not really surprising for a record that covers cultural colonialism, imperialism, conflicting opinions, intense emotions, strange dreams and insomnia. The title refers to the genus of plants often associated with ancient rituals that are also sometimes used as poison or hallucinogens. “We liked the idea of a flower that opens at night,” says Lorena. “A type of Datura grows all over the neighbourhood where we live. People try to get rid of them because they are afraid of their dogs eating them, but they always regrow again and again in the same places.”

A bit like Lorelle themselves, then. Datura is their fourth album for Sonic Cathedral and their sixth overall. We last heard from them at the start of 2020, when they followed the previous year’s acclaimed De Facto with a new EP and set out on the road in the US, wending their way to a slot at SXSW. History had other ideas, however, and they were left high and dry in upstate New York, resorting to a Crowdfunder to enable them to get home before lockdowns came into force. The band was paused.

“At some point in 2022 we decided it was time to write new music and everything flowed easily,” says Alberto. As life returned to normal they played shows, firstly in Mexico and then, earlier this year, they finished what they started three years ago and toured the US with SUUNS.

Now, finally, they are set to flower once again with Datura, their most direct and dynamic album to date; proof that nature really is healing.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Sixth outing for Lorelle Meets The Obsolete is a no-nonsense and focused spaced out post-punk showcase that really highlights the duo's songwriting capabilities. Bass-heavy, dark and energizing, it's great to have these lot back!

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Datura
Invisible
Dínamo
Arco
Side B
Golpe Blanco
Ave En Reversa
Óvalo
Dos Noches

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell has taken yet another musical detour, this time collaborating with Essex-based duo Masal on an incredible new album of ambient, astral jazz.Tidal Love Numbers is released via Sonic Cathedral on May 19, and is made up of four mesmerising, meandering instrumental tracks that combine Andy’s incredible guitar playing with analogue synths and harp.

Andy’s history in Ride, Oasis and numerous other bands is well-known, and his solo career has also taken off; his most recent album, Flicker, was one of last year’s finest. Masal, meanwhile, came together in Leigh-on-Sea after a chance meeting in a charity shop.Al Johnson has performed and released records as Alien for a number of years now, while Oz Simsek studied classical harp while growing up in Turkey, before joining a jazz band. Since relocating to the UK she has worked with the likes of Viv Albertine and Gazelle Twin. The duo connected over a shared love of electronic and world music and released their debut album Charity Shop in 2020.The collaboration with Andy came about after they supported him at an Andy Bell Space Station gig in Chelmsford during Independent Venue Week at the start of 2022. They got chatting on the night, and bonded over Promises, the collaboration between Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and The London Symphony Orchestra.“After hearing it, I felt there was something in that area for me, if I found the right collaborators,” says Andy, explaining how the hugely acclaimed 2021 release was effectively the starting point for this new project. “So, I was kind of on the lookout from that point. I’ve always loved the sound of harp music – Alice Coltrane and Joanna Newsom are both firm favourites – and so, when I met Oz and Al, it seemed like it could be a good combination.” “The moment Andy mentioned his love of the Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders album, I knew we were thinking along the same lines,” says Oz. “As a lifelong shoegazer, Al already shared a common musical background and direction, but we got chatting over texts and emails and very soon we were exchanging musical ideas.” Andy was inspired by the likes of William Basinski, Harold Budd, Ariel Kalma’s Osmose and Babe, Terror’s Ancient M’ocean, while Masal shared their love for Prince Lasha, Turkish prog and folk, medieval harp music and Guitarrorists, a 1991 compilation of outsider guitar sounds. The end result – sympathetically mastered by Andy’s Ride bandmate Mark Gardener – lands somewhere between Mary Lattimore, psych-folk guitarist Sandy Bull and Spacemen 3’s Dreamweapon, with the four pieces subtly ebbing and flowing from pastoral picking to psychedelic bliss to noisy drones and back again, all punctuated by Oz’s heavenly harp.

Despite their length, the tracks never outstay their welcome, and their stream-of-consciousness titles add to the sense of intrigue.

“I wanted super-long titles like Felt,” explains Andy. “And I wanted to cram into them as much imagery and emotion as possible.”

It worked – this is an incredibly satisfying trip; as focused and vivid as it is fuzzy and vague. It’s time to float away with the Tidal Love Numbers.

TRACK LISTING

1. Murmuration Of Warm Dappled Light On Her Back After Swimming
2. The Slight Unease Of Seeing A Crescent Moon In Blue Midday Sky
3. Tidal Love Conversations In That Familiar Golden Orchard
4. A Pyramid Hidden By Centuries Of Neon Green Undergrowth

The Magic Hour features guests including former One Dove singer Dot Allison and pedal steel legend B.J. Cole.

The EP features two brand new tracks alongside two remixes of songs from last year’s acclaimed album Red Sunset Dreams. The Dot Allison-featuring ‘Sundowning’ gets an almost Balearic makeover by Richard Norris which flows perfectly from ‘Silver River’, featuring B.J. Cole, which has been turned into awe-inspiring ambient Americana by the Indianapolis collective Dawn Chorus And The Infallible Sea. “Their album Liberamente on Azure Vista was one of my favourite records of 2020,” says Mark. “It has some of the best ambient guitar recording I’ve heard for a long time. I love how they’ve re-contextualised B.J.’s pedal steel with a different kind of melancholic backdrop – it’s much more reflective and dreamlike than the original.” The two new tracks, despite sharing a common theme with the album in terms of their sunset-themed titles, signal a change in musical mood. Both are much more propulsive and driving, inspired by Mark’s recent live shows which he has played as a trio with bassist Dean Roby and drummer Chris Smith. In fact, adding the title track to his live set finally brought it to life after 20 long years. “I wrote the demo for ‘Magic Hour’ while living in a flat in the centre of Manchester in the early 2000s on a Soundcraft desk loaned to me by Simon Tong,” says Mark of the title track’s origins. “It was called ‘Alesis’ for years because I recorded the initial guitar through an Alesis Quadraverb that belonged to The Verve’s Nick McCabe, but it’s now grown into something more groove-based, like an electronica-influenced take on what I was doing on Innerland.” ‘Alpenglow’ came about more recently after Mark bought a Boss RC-300 Loop Station. “My initial intention was to attempt the unspeakable by recording a psychedelic Joy Division-style track,” explains Mark. It does indeed have a dark, post-punk feel, like a souped-up ‘Shadowplay’, but as it cranks into krautrock gear it could almost be Neu! with the late, great Tom Verlaine replacing Michael Rother on guitar.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Magic Hour
A2. Alpenglow
B1. Silver River (Dawn Chorus And The Infallible Sea Remix)
B2. Sundowning (Richard Norris Remix)

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell releases a new compilation album called Strange Loops & Outer Psych on February 10, 2023.

The release marks the end of the campaign for Andy’s second solo album Flicker, which came out to great acclaim in February 2022, and rounds up 16 tracks from his recent run of three EPs (I Am A Strange Loop, The Grounding Process and Untitled Film Stills) that were made up of remixes, acoustic versions and covers of songs that inspired the album.

The new CD release includes four tracks that weren’t included on the original limited-edition vinyl releases. It also includes his fuzzed-up cover of Yoko Ono’s song ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling’ – which was recently given the official seal of approval when Yoko herself tweeted the video to her 4.5 million followers – and the majestic Maps remix of ‘It Gets Easier’, as heard on Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC Radio 6 Music. There are further remixes by David Holmes, Richard Norris, bdrmm, A Place To Bury Strangers and Claude Cooper, as well as covers of songs by The Kinks, Arthur Russell and Pentangle and five fragile acoustic takes on album tracks.

“Almost a year to the day since I released my second album Flicker, here is a technicolour companion piece that pulls together the tracks from the EPs to colour in the edges of the record,” says Andy. “Influences, stripped down acoustic reworks and remixes by my friends, comrades and heroes all hopefully help the listener see where my head was when I made Flicker, but also it stands up as a decent listen in its own right.”

The CD was mastered in New York by Heba Kadry and is sequenced like a mixtape, which makes for a proper listening experience. “Hatful Of Hollow is my favourite Smiths album, just saying,” explains Andy. “Thanks to everyone who supported my music in 2022, I appreciate you all, see you in 2023.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Collating his three 10 inch releases from last year into a tasty little CD package, with a couple of extra remixes thrown in, 'Strange Loops & Outer Psyche' is the essential companion piece to Bell's fantastic 'Flicker'. With covers, acoustic versions and remixes, this one shouldn't be missed!

TRACK LISTING

1. The Sky Without You (David Holmes Radical Mycology Remix)
2. It Gets Easier (Maps Remix)
3. Our Last Night Together (Arthur Russell Cover)
4. The Way Love Used To Be (The Kinks Cover)
5. Something Like Love (Richard Norris Remix)
6. Listen, The Snow Is Falling (Yoko Ono Cover)
7. She Calls The Tune (Acoustic Version)
8. Love Is The Frequency (Acoustic Version)**
9. Light Flight (Pentangle Cover)
10. Lifeline (Acoustic Version)
11. World Of Echo (A Place To Bury Strangers Remix)**
12. Sidewinder (Claude Cooper Remix)**
13. Way Of The World (bdrmm Remix)
14. World Of Echo (Acoustic Version)
15. Something Like Love (Acoustic Version)
16. Something Like Love (Richard Norris Remix – Instrumental)**

Austrian duo MOLLY return with their second album, Picturesque, via Sonic Cathedral.

The album’s seemingly brief tracklisting belies a work of great beauty and depth, and one which turned into a one-man crusade for singer/guitarist Lars Andersson, intertwining deeply personal stories with his love for the era of Romanticism.

“Every time I go to a museum and I’m about to pass through the era of Romanticism I stop in awe,” says Lars of the enduring appeal of the 18th century artistic movement. “Whatever it is – stories, paintings, music – it triggers something deep within me, something profoundly human.
It really hits a nerve, and it utterly immerses me to a point where I can’t move.”

The album replicates this feeling; a gloriously over-the-top blend of Slowdive and Sigur Rós, mixed with the single-mindedness of Daniel Johnston and the noisiness of Nirvana, it’s as bold and beautiful and every bit as ornate as the art that inspired it.

Unlike their acclaimed debut, 2019’s All That Ever Could Have Been, which gradually came into focus with a 15-minute opening track, Picturesque hits home from the very first note of the short and sweet opener, ‘Ballerina’. That’s not to say there aren’t epics here – ‘Metamorphosis’ is essentially a 12-minute suite of three movements; blistering closer ‘The Lot’ is 11 minutes of Swans-inspired heaviness – but everything is much more direct and focused. This isn’t an album to lose yourself in, it’s one to get swept away by.

“‘More is more’ was definitely the credo when making this record,” agrees Lars. “A big inspiration were bands like Pond and the way they manage to fill their songs up with stuff to the absolute maximum. While I definitely tried to give the listener some room to breathe at certain points and while, in good old post-rock fashion, it still builds up and breaks down, it relies much more on simple melody and harmony as opposed to noisy experimentation to transport feeling.”

Never more so than on the first single, ‘The Golden Age’, which is the album’s centre-piece; a soaring slice of über-shoegaze that is so stunning you can’t take your eyes or ears off it.

Like all the songs on the album, it’s based around a fairy-tale from the Romantic era. In this case, it’s Heinrich von Ofterdingen by the German poet, author and philosopher Novalis (other influences are: The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen; The Seven Ravens and Hans in Luck by the Brothers Grimm; Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué and The Golden Pot by E.T.A. Hoffmann), with Lars drawing parallels between the titular character’s mystical and romantic searchings and his own personal quest.

This is apt as the album has been an overriding obsession for Lars for the past two-and-a-half years; as well as writing and recording the songs (bandmate Phillip Dornauer played drums), he also mixed and mastered them at his Alpine Audio studio and Picturesque is very much his Brian Wilson or Kevin Shields moment. MOLLY were in the middle of their European tour when Covid hit in early 2020, forcing Lars to retreat back to his home outside Innsbruck and giving him time and space to think about every detail of the record.

“Well, I was on a quest I guess,” he admits. “Like everyone, I was stranded at home and at some point I just said to myself, ‘If not now, then when?’ It was an intense process. I’ve worked on music from other bands and artists before but producing and mixing your own music is an utterly different animal. It was probably the most intense thing I’ve ever done, but it was also incredibly rewarding and the feeling of it all coming together piece by piece is incomparable.”

The artwork is just as effective. “I think of Radiohead’s OK Computer – what you hear on the record is what you see on the cover,” explains Lars. “We were inspired by what we call ‘wimmelbilder’ [hidden pictures] in German, a very specific style in art where there are a lot of little things happening. When you see it from further away, it looks organic like a lost painting from the area of Romanticism, but the closer you look the more digital it gets. It’s a nice analogy.”

He’s right, it perfectly sums up the conflict between Romanticism and 21st century life.

“Romanticism was basically an answer to the Industrial Revolution as well as the social and political norms of the Age Of Enlightenment,” concludes Lars. “Now, we all live in a much more industrialised, materialistic, individualistic and sterile society than any early Romanticist could have ever possibly imagined. Over 200 years later the Romanticists have lost the battle.”

With the divine and downright pulchritudinous Picturesque, MOLLY begin the fightback.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Ballerina
Metamorphosis
The Golden Age
Side B
Sunday Kid
So To Speak
The Lot

Stripped down versions of tracks from Flicker. “On my debut solo album The View From Halfway Down I did all of my promotion via Zoom and pre-recorded interviews and acoustic sessions,” explains Andy of the EP. “I enjoyed making the acoustic versions and decided to do some more for this album.” “‘Something Like Love’ is the most popular song from Flicker and one of the oldest, starting life in the ’90s. It’s probably the only one that dates back to the Ride era.“The riffs for ‘World Of Echo’ were written while I was on tour with Oasis, at the height of my La’s obsession. It went through a few iterations from then onwards, but never had a final melody until last year.“’She Calls The Tune’ was the first song I wrote after I joined Oasis, ending a period of writers’ block which I had started going through some time in 1999. The very first performance of it was to an audience of Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer and Richard Ashcroft in a Milan hotel room. No pressure! I don’t think I ever saw this as an Oasis song, but I have them to thank for the fact that I was able to write songs again at all.” ‘Lifeline’ was another riff I came up with while on tour with Oasis. I remember being on a UK tour with Shack, and sitting around backstage on acoustics with Mick and John Head jamming around the Simon & Garfunkel version of ‘Scarborough Fair’. The riff for ‘Lifeline’ followed soon after. It was always called ‘Lifeline’ but I never found the right lyric for it until recently.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The Grounding Process has some of the lesser well known (but equally superb) pieces in the Andy Bell canon, being written while on the road and in various cities around the world. Another lovely addition to the discography.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Something Like Love
A2. World Of Echo
B1. She Calls The Tune
B2. Lifeline

XAM Duo – the Yorkshire-based pairing of Matthew Benn and Christopher Duffin – follow-up their The A-side features a reworking of the album’s closing track, ‘Cold Stones’, by legendary electronic artist and DJ, James Holden. In one of his first remixes for a number of years, he has taken the original’s calming, comedown energy and transformed it into an epic, 11-and-a-half-minute journey, which somewhere around the five-minute mark comes right back up. “It didn't turn out quite how I expected, but as they say the sculpture is already in the stone, we just have to find it,” says Holden. “It's like the most rave thing I’ve done for ages and also not rave at all, like a blurry dream about a rave?” Whatever it is, it’s incredible, as are the two further reworkings on the B-side. The Early Years resurface after another lengthy hiatus and reframe ‘LGOC’ as a divine astral jazz / krautrock crossover, while Richard Pike (of PVT and Deep Learning, among others) turns ‘Blue Comet’ into a glitchy and discordant soundtrack to the best 1980s computer game you never played. “It’s lovely to hear three different interpretations of songs that we already tend to keep quite loose and elastic,“ says Matthew Benn. “These remixes feel like a natural extension of the music on the album, like they're from the same world, but perhaps in a different language.”

TRACK LISTING

A1 - Cold Stones (James Holden Remix)
B1 - LGOC (The Early Years Remix)
B2 - Blue Comet (Richard Pike Remix)

Mark Peters releases a second solo album Red Sunset Dreams on September 16. The follow-up to his hugely acclaimed debut Innerland, which was one of Rough Trade’s albums of the year when it came out in 2018, it features a number of guest musicians, including former One Dove singer and songwriter Dot Allison and pedal steel legend BJ Cole. Like its predecessor, Red Sunset Dreams is an album about an imaginary landscape.

Whereas Innerland was an introspective psychogeographic trip inspired by Mark’s move back to his hometown of Wigan and the memories it stirred up, Red Sunset Dreams looks outwards, across the Atlantic to the United States of America, but very much through a UK prism; a representation of the subconscious Americana that’s buried deep in our collective psyches. The result is an incredibly evocative trip through the landscapes of old Western movies, exploring their links with the North West of England while touching on wider themes such as isolation, freedom and dementia. Sonically, it builds on the palette of the previous record with instrumentation equally inspired by the ascendant ambient Americana movement and classic country-rock.

As a result it ends up somewhere between Acetone’s peerless I Guess I Would, Diamond Head-era Phil Manzanera and the dusty instrumentals on the second disc of David Sylvian’s 1986 classic Gone To Earth.Mark has spent the four years since Innerland recording and releasing Destiny Waiving, his third collaboration with Ulrich Schnauss, and recently followed up 2020’s new Engineers recordings (the ambient perambulations of Pictobug) with a reissue series of the band’s much sought after early albums. He has recently put a brand new band together and will be playing a series of live shows following the release of Red Sunset Dreams.

TRACK LISTING

1. Switch On The Sky (feat. Dot Allison)
2. Golden Cloud
3. Silver River (feat. BJ Cole)
4. Dusty Road Ramble
5. The Musical Box
6. Tamaroa
7. Red Sunset Dream
8. Sundowning (feat. Dot Allison)

Pye Corner Audio releases a new album, 'Let’s Emerge!', for Sonic Cathedral. It’s his first studio outing for the label following the acclaimed live recording 'Social Dissonance', which was released earlier this year, and it features Ride guitarist Andy Bell playing on five of its ten tracks.

From the first glimpse of the artwork to the first note of the music it’s a marked deviation from Pye Corner Audio’s more traditional shadowy sounds. Whereas his last outing for Ghost Box (2021’s 'Entangled Routes') was inspired by the underground fungal pathways through which plants communicate, this one is very much above ground, bathed in sunlight and acid-bright psychedelia. “This is a departure to sunnier climes, but a departure nonetheless,” says Pye Corner Audio, aka Martin Jenkins. “It’s something that I’d been thinking about for a while. I try to tailor my work slightly differently for the various labels that I work with, and this seems to fit nicely with Sonic Cathedral’s ethos.”

Designer Marc Jones’ ultra vivid artwork consciously references the likes of LFO, Spacemen 3 and the early output of Stereolab. “I think it mixes together many of my earliest influences,” explains Martin. “I’ve been a long-time fan of Spacemen 3 and Stereolab. Their moments of repetition and drone have always seeped into what I’ve tried to create. “I was living in a small apartment and I’d stripped down my studio set-up when I was recording this album. This enabled me to focus on a few key pieces of equipment and explore them fully.” The recordings were fleshed out by Andy Bell, who Martin first met at the Sonic Cathedral 15th birthday party at The Social in London back in 2019 – the same show that became the live album 'Social Dissonance'. “New alliances were formed and friendships made in that basement in Little Portland Street,” recalls Martin. “When I met Andy, we agreed that we needed to work together in some way. After I’d remixed a few tracks from his album 'The View From Halfway Down', he kindly repaid the favour.”

The end results are incredible, from the first stirrings of opener ‘De-Hibernate’, via the glorious ‘Haze Loops’ and ‘Saturation Point’, the album slowly but surely awakens, blinking and feeling its way into the light. It all culminates in the epic closing track ‘Warmth Of The Sun’ which, with its vocal harmonies and acid breakdown, is seven and a half minutes of pure release. “That one’s about life’s simple pleasures,” concludes Martin. “The Beach Boys, tremolo guitars, infinite drones, Spacemen 3. Let’s emerge from this darkened era and feel the ‘Warmth Of The Sun’. “The last few years have seen huge changes, both personally and in a wider perspective. The album title is a reaction to this, a collective (tentative) sigh of relief. Here’s to new beginnings and a sense of hope.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I love Pye Corner Audio, always have. We had Andy Bell in the shop a couple months back and he was telling us he'd worked with Martin on some music but I did NOT expect this. Gorgeous, plaintive washes of synth and reverbed guitar, echoes of melody within the expansive, electronic atmospheres. A stunning first one for the great Sonic Cathedral.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. De-Hibernate
2. Lyracal
3. Does It Go Dark?
4. Haze Loops
5. Let’s Emerge Part One
Side B
1. Saturation Point
2. Sun Stroke
3. Let’s Emerge Part Two
4. Luminescence
5. Warmth Of The Sun

In the heady days prior to the pandemic, on October 23, 2019, Pye Corner Audio headlined Sonic Cathedral’s 15th birthday bash at The Social in London (on a bill that also included bdrmm and Andy Bell). Now, following a limited cassette release in 2020, the incendiary performance – which mixes improvisations with reworked material from across his career – has been remastered by Antony Ryan (ISAN) and is to be made available on vinyl for the first time.

Wryly titled ‘Social Dissonance’, it comes on green and blue swirl vinyl in a striking fluoro green and neon blue sleeve by designer Marc Jones. “This is a recording of a gig in a small space with a big heart,” says Pye Corner Audio, aka Martin Jenkins. “A memory of a night before the world changed completely. However, new alliances were formed and friendships made in that basement in Little Portland Street.” Indeed, Pye Corner Audio went on to collaborate with Andy Bell on an acclaimed series of remixes and the Ride guitarist returned the favour by playing on some new recordings that will be coming out on Sonic Cathedral later this year.

TRACK LISTING

1. Untitled
2. Untitled

Four tracks recorded by Ride guitarist and singer Andy Bell for radio sessions, including a cover of 1990 Mancunian cult classic ‘Perfume’ by Paris Angels.

TRACK LISTING

1. Love Comes In Waves (Acoustic Version)
2. Cherry Cola (Acoustic Version)
3. Skywalker (Acoustic Version)
4. Perfume (Acoustic Version)

Cheval Sombre releases his fourth album, Days Go By, via Sonic Cathedral on May 28, 2021.

It is his second album this year, and a companion piece to Time Waits for No One, which came out at the end of February to great acclaim. Like that album, it has been produced and mixed by Sonic Boom and features guests including Galaxie 500 and Luna frontman Dean Wareham.

Cheval Sombre is the nome d’arte of Chris Porpora, a poet from upstate New York whose otherworldly psychedelic lullabies on his self-titled album from 2009 and its follow-up, Mad Love (2012), won him a cult following. Coming just three months after Time Waits for No One, Days Go By furthers the overarching theme of the inexorable and inevitable march of time and, musically, comes across like John Fahey sitting in with Spiritualized circa Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.

The title Days Go By is actually taken from the lyrics of the previous record’s title track – and this is just one way in which the records are inextricably linked, via a number of symmetries. Both have ten tracks, with eight originals, one instrumental and a closing cover version, which this time around is a take on Scottish folk musician Alasdair Roberts’ ‘The Calfless Cow’.

“Having the opportunity to release two full-length albums in the same year doesn’t come around too often,” explains Chris, “so I wanted to go to every length to make it special – meaningful. It was a privilege to realise this meticulous level of symmetry – it truly became another vital dimension in the craft of record making. Around each turn, there was a chance to be incredibly measured and thoughtful, not least with Craig Carry’s artwork.”

But, as the intersecting flight paths of the two birds on the respective covers show, there are also plenty of differences. Not least, the mood, which on Days Go By is lighter, airier, punctuated by strings which are even more beautiful. Chris likens it to Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, but in reverse order. “How wonderful to discover that on the other side of experience, there is an innocence which has endured,” he explains.

“Beyond politics, love affairs, worldly woes, even life and death, it’s true – there is a calm after the storm. “It’s strange, this life – isn’t it? You’ve got all these songs around conceptions of time, it’s over eight years since your last album, you decide to release twin records, and their release dates somehow fall perfectly in line with the unfolding present. When folks say that the stars conspire to make things happen, I tend to believe it. Time Waits for No One is a dark record, already reminiscent of the shadowy days of winter, of the trials of the pandemic. If Days Go By can coincide with the promise of springtime, bringing with it light, lifting spirits – then I know my work has been done.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I always thought 'Cheval Sombre' meant 'Sad Horse' which would have made perfect sense, but it turns out it actually means 'Dark Horse'. Anyway, if horses were so inclined, I imagine that this mournful but uplifting suite of perfectly crafted acoustic balladry would make even the saddest of horses a little bit more cheery.

TRACK LISTING

1. If It’s You
2. So Long For This
3. Well It’s Hard
4. He Was My Gang
5. Give Me Something
6. Are You Ready
7. Pneumonia Blues
8. Sunlight In My Room
9. Walking At Night
10. The Calfless Cow

Cheval Sombre releases his third album, Time Waits for No One. It is his first solo release for more than eight years, following 2018’s critically acclaimed collaboration with Galaxie 500 and Luna frontman Dean Wareham, and the first of two new albums scheduled for 2021, both of which have been produced by Sonic Boom. Cheval Sombre is the nome d’arte of Chris Porpora, a poet from upstate New York whose otherworldly psychedelic lullabies on his self-titled album from 2009 and its follow-up, Mad Love (2012), won him a cult following. Time Waits for No One ushers in his most prolific period, and serendipitously the world has finally slowed down to his pace. This is no lockdown record, but Cheval Sombre’s reclusive, reflective music is its perfect soundtrack.

“I’ve always said that what I really want to do with music is to give people sanctuary,” he explains. “Pandemic or not, the world has always felt as though it were spinning out of control to me, and so if folks have slowed down, I do see it all as an opportunity to discover vital realms which have always been there, but we’ve been too rushed and distracted to encounter.” Time Waits for No One is also his finest and most fully realised body of work to date and, appropriately enough for a record that has taken so many years to come to fruition, across eight original songs, an instrumental and a closing cover of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘No Place to Fall’, its overarching theme is time itself; what it is and what role it inevitably plays in all of our lives.

But the record is also timeless, contrasting the musical simplicity of Cheval Sombre’s open-tuned acoustic guitar curlicues with the beautiful, sweeping and ornate arrangements of Sonic Boom’s keyboards and Gillian Rivers’ and Yuiko Kamakari’s strings. The end result is something akin to Daniel Johnston backed by the Mercury Rev of Deserter’s Songs. Elemental and earthbound, but simultaneously and very subtly shooting for the stratosphere.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A brittle but beautiful combination of folky guitar and heavily echoed vocals, falling somewhere between traditional 60's psych and slow shoegaze mixed with a dash of modern classical. It's tender and haunting, a wonderful journey.

Hull/Leeds based five-piece bdrmm release their much anticipated debut Bedroom on July 3, via Sonic Cathedral. The 10-track album was recorded late last year at The Nave studio in Leeds by Alex Greaves (Working Mens Club, Bo Ningen) and mastered in Brooklyn by Heba Kadry (Slowdive, Beach House). It’s a hugely accomplished debut and a real step up both sonically and lyrically from their early singles, which were rounded up on last year’s If Not, When? EP. Musically, there are nods to The Cure’s Disintegration, Deerhunter and DIIV, while the band reference RIDE and Radiohead. There are also echoes of krautrock and post-punk, from The Chameleons to Protomartyr, plus the proto shoegaze of the Pale Saints’ The Comforts Of Madness, not least in the cross fading of some tracks, meaning the album is an almost seamless listen. As a result, Bedroom becomes an unexpected and unintentional concept album, running through the different stages of a break-up set against the backdrop of the ups and downs of your early twenties. “The subject matter spans mental health, alcohol abuse, unplanned pregnancy, drugs… basically every cliché topic that you could think of,” reveals frontman Ryan Smith. “But that doesn’t mean they ever stop being relevant. It’s a fucker growing up, but I’m lucky enough to have been able to project my feelings in the form of this band, surrounded by four of the best people I’ve ever met.”

And that band name, in case it needs explaining, is pronounced the same way as the album title. “I never thought I’d get to the stage where I would have to explain it so much,” says Ryan. “We have been pronounced as Boredom, Bdum and my old boss thought we were a ska band called Bad Riddim. We’re all sarcastic cunts, so Bedroom spelt correctly seemed like the perfect title.” He’s right. The perfect title for the perfect debut album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: The hugely anticipated debut album from the Hull based five-piece led by Ryan Smith. Released on the ever reliable Sonic Cathedral, ‘Bedroom’ takes its cues from the early 90s shoegazing scene but magnifies it in the huge expanses of their widescreen sound. The effortlessly gorgeous instrumental “Momo” sets the scene as the guitars ripple around a taut rhythm section before the hypnotic opener cross fades into the glimmering introspection of “Push / Pull” with its Chameleons-esque chiming guitar chugs and soft-focus vocals of Smith.
Throughout the album the shimmering soundscape pulses along with hypnotic chiming guitars, doomy bass sounds, and dream-pop vocals, all perfectly illustrated on mid-album highlights such as “Gush” and “Happy”. The colossal “If…” dominates Side 2 with huge peaks of crunching fuzz riffs and euphoric vocals, before the album drifts out with the lilting mellowness of “Is That What You Wanted To Hear?” and album closer “Forget The Credits”.
Who knows where their next album will take them but with ‘Bedroom’ they’ve created a modern day shoegaze classic.

TRACK LISTING

1. Momo
2. Push/Pull
3. A Reason To Celebrate
4. Gush
5. Happy
6. (The Silence)
7. (Un)happy
8. If....
9. Is That What You Wanted To Hear?
10. Forget The Credits

Bristol’s loudest band Spectres return with the brand new six-track ‘WTF’ EP.

With recording on their third album almost complete, the band have decided it’s time for one final look back at last year’s album ‘Condition’, which was acclaimed at the time of release, but largely forgotten about by the end of a year which saw some major changes in the band, with frontman Joe Hatt relocating to Berlin and long-time producer Dominic Mitchison joining on bass.

The EP pairs one of the highlights of ‘Condition’ – ‘Welcoming The Flowers’ (the video for which was premiered on The Line Of Best Fit recently) – with remixes of other album tracks by the likes of Metrist, who melts ‘Dissolve’ in an acid bath of broken techno; Elvin Brandhi (aka one half of Yeah You) and Mun Sing (aka one half of Giant Swan) who turn ‘End Waltz’ into, respectively, a glitchy explosion of sound and a tribal industrial monster (which was premiered last week on Mixmag); finally French Margot and Silver Waves place a noose of ethereal beauty and bloody-minded sonic terrorism around ‘Neck’.

It’s not just the music that comes as a shock to the senses: the packaging of the limited-edition 12” (250 copies only) is, quite literally, a car crash in a bag. It’s pressed on what we’re calling “windscreen coloured” vinyl and comes wrapped in a sleeve covered with tyre marks; inside, alongside the familiar digital download card, you will find an air freshener and a lyric sheet in a child’s handwriting, as you might find near the scene of an accident.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dissolve (Metrist Remix) 03:26
2. Welcoming The Flowers (WTF Version) 04:28
3. Neck (French Margot Remix) 05:08
4. End Waltz (Elvin Brandhi Remix) 07:04
5. Neck (Silver Waves Remix) 03:34
6. End Waltz (Mun Sing Remix) 03:41

Lifetime of Love is the debut album by Moon Diagrams, the solo recording project of Deerhunter co-founder and drummer Moses John Archuleta. Gradually pieced together over a ten-year period, it finds Archuleta processing various stages of love, loss and regeneration via forlorn outsider pop, minimal techno and warm, weightless experimentation. Hymnal opener “Playground” has echoes of Eno and Grouper; lengthy workouts such as “The Ghost and the Host” recall long-lost Harmonia outtakes, or something from one of Warp’s Artificial Intelligence compilations; the bitter pill pop of “End of Heartache” has the scratchy guitar of New Order circa Brotherhood and the square pegness of Dazzle Ships-era OMD. Several songs are instrumental, while “Bodymaker” features Sian Ahern (Eaux, Sian Alice Group). Subtly grandiose and quietly epic, Lifetime of Love really does live up to its title: a hopeful and curious beginning makes way for a morose middle, before a bittersweet, optimistic end. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Playground
2. Moon Diagrams
3. Nightmoves
4. Blue Ring
5. The Ghost And The Host
6. Magic Killer
7. Bodymaker
8. End Of Heartache

Red vinyl 7" single coupling the original album version of 'The Sound Of All Things' with a remix by Russian trio Gnoomes.

Limited-edition of 274.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: One of the highlights of their album, 'The Sound Of All Things' is a slice of motorik guitar-driven synth pop, psychedelic and bracing, all remixed on the flip by Gnoomes into a dystopian re-imagining of the original. Shadowy where it was glittering, but retaining the charm and skill of the original. Great stuff.

TRACK LISTING

A. The Sound Of All Things
AA. The Sound Of All Things (Gnoomes Remix)

New outfit formed by Matthew Benn of Hookworms and Christopher Duffin of Deadwall. Its six tracks of improvised ambient beauty are both meditative and peaceful, it is astral jazz with an experimental kosmische undercurrent; modular synths meet saxophones; Cluster meets Terry Riley; Laurie Spiegel meets Pharoah Sanders; Ohr meets Impulse!. A warm, immersive and downright musical record, it rewards repeat listens. XAM was originally Matthew’s solo project, the name borrowed from the closing song of latter-day Dusseldorf-via-Detroit cult classic ‘Subway II’. He recorded a number of tracks at home between Hookworms albums in 2014 which were released last year as the ‘Tone Systems’ EP on Deep Distance.

Christopher says he approaches each song as a “mini-soundtrack to an imaginary film that doesn’t exist yet” and reveals that, while he was practising at home, he played along to clips of ‘There Will Be Blood’, ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Synecdoche, New York’ to get the requisite atmosphere. Live sets are also completely improvised, meaning no two shows are ever the same. “I appreciate that improvised music isn’t for everyone, but it’s something I love doing,” Matthew concludes. “And, more often than not, Chris and I create something beautiful together

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Otherworldly developing ambience and celestial synth swells, gradual building and eventual fragmentation turn this into a tour-de-force of Reich-esque structural integrity. Jazzy interludes give way to churning echoes, while hints of percussion give just enough purpose to direct the cloud of blissful fog.

TRACK LISTING

1. Proem
2. Pine Barrens
3. I Extend My Arms Pt I & II
4. Ashtanga
5. The Test Dream
6. René

Spectres release a new album, ‘Dead’, on March 25. That’s Good Friday, and it will see the songs from the Bristol band’s hugely acclaimed debut ‘Dying’ nailed to the cross by Mogwai, Factory Floor, Hookworms, Richard Fearless (Death In Vegas), Andy Bell (Ride), Robert Hampson (Loop) and many more.

The only instruction was “kill our songs”, and so here are the remains, served up on two mortuary slabs of vinyl (and CD) as a stunning, 13-track album that builds on the original’s feeling of claustrophobia and dread, but recasts it across everything from brutal techno (Blood Music’s ‘This Purgatory’) to New Order-meets-Animal Collective euphoria (Andy Bell’s ‘Sea Of Trees’). It’s an occasionally punishing, but always rewarding listen that begins somewhere in the depths of a K-hole, courtesy of Vision Fortune’s ‘Drag’, and ends somewhere rather beautiful, with the celestial synths of Mogwai’s ‘This Purgatory’. (It’s worth noting that Mogwai’s classic ‘Kicking A Dead Pig’ was a big inspiration here.)

“We see Spectres as something that can work in a variety of contexts,” says frontman Joe Hatt, as he explains the motivation behind ‘Dead’. “Our musical interests spread out in different angles and we are always thinking of ways for what we do to evolve and mutate. We put together a list of artists who we admired, and thought would deliver a varied and eclectic mix. Some were close friends who are conveniently making some of the best music around, and others were pipe dreams that we thought would never happen. It was both nerve-wracking and fun waiting for each of the artists’ versions to arrive in our inbox, and some definitely surprised us; but none disappointed.”

‘Dead’ serves as an important reminder of what a special band Spectres are, something that can be easy to forget with their anti-industry stance and extra-curricular activities often grabbing the headlines more than their music (“We’ve always been like this, and we won’t cease,” threatens Hatt). In 2015 they ruffled feathers with their Record Store Day Is Dying campaign; their unofficial alternative James Bond theme ‘Spectre’ was erroneously reviewed by the Evening Standard and then some leaked and, it turned out, fake emails managed to upset both the BBC and Sam Smith; they made a video in which they murdered Nick Grimshaw, Reggie Yates, Scott Mills and Fearne Cotton after a Radio 1 Live Lounge appearance went awry; and they ended the year with a massively disrespectful cover version of Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ that had all the good cheer mechanically removed. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: 'Dying' was a perfect pummelling of sonics, unexpectedly brash and brilliantly dark. If anything, this album of reworkings (allegedly handed over to the remixer with the proviso that they 'Kill' their songs) is even moreso. 'Kill' might not be the right word, but they have most certainly stretched, distorted and injected each outing with a dynamic not displayed in the original. Industrial echoes and hammers, cavernous drums. Swashes of distortion swoop and wash over the listener. Barely is there time to breathe between these aural assaults, and when the Stuart Braithwaite remix comes at the end, it feels like you've survived a black storm, and come out of the end all the better for it. Stunning stuff.

Spectres’ alternative Bond theme is a dark and brooding duet between frontman Joe Hatt and chamber pop torch singer Ela Orleans, with strings, horns and a kitchen sink of looming feedback. ‘Spectre’ is beautiful, mysterious and deadly serious; like a shaken and stirred version of Blur’s ‘To The End’, or a cross between Sonic Youth’s cover of ‘Superstar’ and The Smiths’ ‘Death Of A Disco Dancer’.

TRACK LISTING

Spectre
Bondage

Limited-edition clear vinyl pressing containing two covers of songs by Neil Halstead - one from his last solo album, and one Slowdive classic.

Limited edition bonus disc version also available - click here.

The incredible second album from Parisian psych-pop duo Yeti Lane, the follow-up to 2010’s hugely acclaimed self-titled debut.

Includes the track ‘Analog Wheel’, premiered on The Line Of Best Fit last December, and the single ‘Sparkling Sunbeam’, featuring guest vocals from Herman Dune.

Co-produced and mixed by Antoine Gaillet (M83, Zombie Zombie, The Berg Sans Nipple).

Artwork by Jean-Philippe Talaga, founder of the Gooom Disques label.

For fans of Kraftwerk, My Bloody Valentine, Broadcast, Stereolab, Can, Pavement and LCD Soundsystem.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Grandaddy gone Krautrock. Heavenly.

Darryl says: Superb psyche-kosmische indie-pop mantras from this Parisian duo on the Sonic Cathedral label.

TRACK LISTING

1. Analog Wheel
2. The Echo Show
3. Warning Sensations
4. -
5. Logic Winds
6. Strange Call
7. --
8. Alba
9. ---
10. Dead Tired
11. Sparkling Sunbeam
12. Faded Spectrum
13. ----