THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

From 1995, the 8th studio album by Big Country featuring the original line-up of Stuart Adamson, Bruce Watson, Tony Butler and Mark Brzezicki. Combining new wave and even new romantic elements with Celtic slanted pop-rock, the album features live favourites ëIím Not Ashamedí and ëYou Dreamerí. Only 3,000 copies were pressed initially and it has never been re-pressed. Now available for Record Store Day on limited edition tourquiose vinyl.

"I’ve had the pleasure of being a Fall fan since I was a teen.

I was lucky enough to have some guidance from my local record shop stoner-lords.

They turned me on to many of my heroes, but once I heard my first slanted and barky Fall song, I was part of the army for life.

The word prolific gets tossed around a lot.

It almost seems like a slag-off in the press, as if they wish the artist would produce less so they wouldn’t have to do their self imposed job of judging releases for the rabble.

The Fall is subjected to this lazy word often.

Yet I can honestly say that I am SO thankful for any nugget of Fall that lands at my feet and in my brain.

Live Fall performances are always a pleasure because they seem to take what already made the Fall great and push it even a bit more into the rough and bloody uncharted wasteland that is drug scorched proto-punk and heady political poetry.

So, it is with great pleasure that we introduce this Fall bootleg soundboard recording to you.

Recorded during one of the many strong points in the bands vast and mighty history.

They really burn bright here and bring every ounce of what you expect from this formidable force.

We have reached out to every surviving member of the band, the sound person, the bootlegger who recorded it and the photographer and received their blessings & help piecing it all together.

Castle Face will be donating 50% of our profits to Centrepoint which helps the homeless in the Manchester area get back on their feet, so the local and deserving Fall fans get a little, and give a little back, too.

Nothing but the hits here folks and as raw as you dig it.

This one really is exceptional in terms of live sound for The Fall.

All the stars were aligned over St. Helens that eve.

And it wouldn’t be complete with a bit of Fall fan saltiness so, fuck you too, Jason.” - John Dwyer

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Well look at this. It's a Fall live recording, which is obviously superb but it's also presented by Castle Face records, who have a superb reputation for bringing lovely vinyl packages that sound great. If you like The Fall, then this really is a no-brainer.

TRACK LISTING

Blob ’59
Prole Art Threat
Jawbone And The Air Rifle
Middle Mass
Rowche Rumble
An Older Lover
City Hobgoblins
Leave The Capitol
The NWRA
Gramme Friday
Fit And Working Again
Muzorewi’s Daughter
Slates, Slags, Etc

Starring... Charli XCX, D-Block Europe, Dominic Sessa, Nia Archives, and Kristen McMenamy. Plus! High art, hard places, raw visions, the biggest small town in America, and a phone call with Goldie while he makes a pizza.

Starring! Olivia Rodrigo, BKtherula, Nina Cristante, Kiko Mizuhara, Jim Goldberg, and Jim Goldberg’s goat. Plus! A big British South Asian portfolio, a report on the happiness of teenage girls, Doja Cat’s biggest fans, the word from student journalists around the country, and more fashion than you could shake a well-dressed stick at.

Taken from the album ‘Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova’, BBE Music, DJ Amir and 180 Proof records present the 3rd single from this monumental project. This release features remixes by Japanese Club Jazz pioneers Kyoto Jazz Massive, and Genre Blending New Yorkers, musclecars. Kyoto Jazz Massive were enlisted to remix the Jazzanova reimagining of Sam Sanders’s iconic song Face at my Window. Their mix adds an intimate Jazz Club feel to vocalist Sean Haefeli’s recording, which highlights the dynamics of Sean’s voice. The subtle tempo increase maintains the feel of the original and adds a punch to the brass section, making the track an entirely new experience. musclecars add that traditional New York / Chicago House vibe to Jazzanova’s reimagining of Kenny Cox’s ‘Beyond the dream’, and the result is a skippy afro/latin dancefloor filler which can go on forever. musclecars demonstrate their genre blending superpowers on this mix which adds a garage swing to a jazz record, definitely going to be a jam for the dancefloors in 2023. Both remixes showcase the importance of DJ Amir's unearthing of these strata gems, and Jazzanova’s reimagining, how they have breathed new life into one of Detroit’s hidden gems - Strata Records. They will definitely on board new audiences to the treasure trove that is Strata, and the iconic stories surrounding the often overlooked record label.

TRACK LISTING

1. Face At My Window (Kyoto Jazz Massive Remix)
2. Beyond The Dream (musclecars' Reimagination)
3. Face At My Window (Yoshi's Edit)
4. Beyond The Dream
5. Face At My Window

Another blink-and-you'll-miss-it, cult curio from Relaxin Records - the people that brought you Inga Copeland's "Higher Powers" from a few weeks back. Still unclear who is behind the label but mystic and intrigue has always been the remit of Inga Copeland, Dean Blunt's infamous collaborator, and the artist behind the Lolina alias.

It's a jagged and skeletal post-punk / disco-not-disco project mainly centered around (real name) Alina Astrova's quirky, dead pan vocal utterances. "Face The Music" features a stripped back palette mainly based around live drums, bass and some added mallets and outta tune guitar squiggles. "Forget It Left Bank" utilizes warped loops akin to her work as Hype Williams; a non-linear dark daydream smothered in a benzo-induced haze.

"Music Is The Drug" is an opiated and smudged crawl through uncategorizable sounds; an undefinable track that keeps you hooked on pure novel expression. "What Is Power" continues to colour in this strange mutant soundscape; throwing any kind of standard musical tradition out of the window and into the landfill; adopting a kind of hanging-on-the-edge-of-sleep, liminality that is both alien and alluring in equal measure. Oh, and is that Dean Blunt on guest vocals? Or the dude with long hair from Bar Italia (whom we know are all part of the same creative circle)?? The mystery continues...

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: As odd and as strange a sonic curio you're ever likely to hear. There's an alluring quality that draws you in (Inga Copeland's trademark) and though throwing the 'standard' musical rulebook out of the window completely; the discord and strange rhythms are fascinating and strangely dulcet.

TRACK LISTING

1. Face The Music 
2. Forget It Left Bank
3. Music Is The Drug (Album Version)
4. What Is Power 

“Out of love in the face of a shadow” is the new album from Credit Electric. Exploring the human unconscious through impressionistic pop vignettes, the album represents a significant evolution of the band’s sound that originally stemmed from limitations put in place by the global pandemic, before blossoming into something altogether new and unexpected. What started to emerge was a body of work that drew upon lo-fi jazz, dub, post-rock, ambient music, 70’s studio experimentation, and 90’s indie rock as much as the rustic folk of their past releases.

The resulting album “out of love in face of a shadow” calls to mind influences as disparate as Hiroshi Yoshimura, American Football, Scientist, and Magnolia Electric Co, all the while inhabiting a world completely of their own design. Highly anticipated sophomore album from Credit Electric. Press coverage on recent releases includes reviews and features in New Commute (Albums of the Year), Various Small Flames, Raven Sings the Blues, Psychedelic Baby Magazine, and more. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Out Of Love In The Face Of A Shadow
2. Carrot
3. St. Francis’s Child
4. Immunity
5. Heights
6. Selfs
7. Silver Line
8. Summit Sipper
9. Winner
10. Mocking Bird

The Face returns with the best stories, talent, fashion and photography in the world.

Volume 1, issue 1 aappeared back in 1980; today the original style magazine continues to sahre the best stories, culture, talent, fashion, photography and design in the world. A no-brow bounty of film, sports, sex, drugs, pop and politics. 

Starring Halle Bailey, Ewan Mitchell, RXK Nephew, fisherman Chris Yates and loads of dogs. 

Face to Face is one of the finest collections of pop songs released during the '60s. Conceived as a loose concept album, Face to Face sees Ray Davies' fascination with English class and social structures flourish, as he creates a number of vivid character portraits.

Davies' growth as a lyricist coincided with the Kinks' musical growth. Face to Face is filled with wonderful moments, whether it's the mocking Hawaiian guitars of the rocker "Holiday in Waikiki," the droning Eastern touches of "Fancy," the music hall shuffle of "Dandy," or the lazily rolling "Sunny Afternoon."

These examples only scratches the surface of the riches of Face to Face, which offers other classics like "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home," "Party Line," "Too Much on My Mind," "Rainy Day in June," and "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale," making the record one of the most distinctive and accomplished albums of its time.

TRACK LISTING

Party Line
Rosy Won't You Please Come Home
Dandy
Too Much On My Mind
Session Man
Rainy Day In June
House In The Country
Holiday In Waikiki
Most Exclusive Residence For Sale
Fancy
Little Miss Queen Of Darkness
You're Looking Fine
Sunny Afternoon
I'll Remember

New look. New season. New in. New frock. New ideas. By new graduates and bedroom designers. Celebrated here. The future of fashion across 40 pages. New for you. In the new issue of THE FACE.⁠

To be a fan of something is a wonderful thing. It’s sort of what we do for a living here at THE FACE. Be excited about people in the hope that you will be, too. And few people inspire excitement like this issue’s three cover stars.

Take Beabadoobee. Despite releasing her debut album just weeks before the UK went into its second lockdown, the 21-year-old indie star has managed to build a fanatical following: one that walks like her, talks like her and dresses like her. As writer Emma Garland notes, Bea’s style ​“embraces today’s environmentally-conscious looks, while taking inspiration from the archives of legendary Tokyo street fashion mag FRUiTS”. And Bea received her own fan moment when FRUiTS’ 67-year-old founder, Shoichi Aoki, flew to London to shoot her for this cover story (safe to say Shoichi became a fan of Bea, too – watching the two of them hang out on set possibly being the sweetest moment of making the issue).

Then there’s Tems, the Nigerian superstar whose famous fans include Drake, Justin Bieber, Adele and former US President Barack Obama. As Olive Pometsey writes in her interview with the singer: ​“Afrobeats is now just as much of a part of wider British music culture as it is a cornerstone of West African immigrants’ heritage.” And judging by the roof-raising when Tems joined Wizkid to perform their Grammy- nominated collab, Essence, at London’s O2 last December, the 26-year-old is the scene’s most exciting prospect – with a red-hotly- anticipated debut album due this summer.

Last but not least, we have Manchester City footballer Jack Grealish. Has there been an English player since Beckham that has transcended the game quite so much? In the unbeatable words of TJ Sidhu: ​“Tough blokes think he’s alright, the girls and gays hold up ​‘Mrs Grealish 69’ signs and follow Instagram pages dedicated to his legs and arse. The rest only think he’s one of the most naturally gifted talents to have run out for his country since Gazza.” If the office’s swooning reaction to his cover story, shot by Alasdair McLellan, is anything to go by, it’s fair to say Jack has a few fans at THE FACE HQ, too.

Yours, a fan of it all.

Matthew Whitehouse, Editor

Long overdue vinyl repress of the sixth The Oh Sees album, and indeed, the first Castle Face release Yes! the sixth THE OH SEES album (from 2007!) and their first for their own label Castle Face. Now reissued on Black Vinyl for the first time in an age..has a DL included … . Produced by KELLEY STOLTZ using all green energy (no joke), the album serves as a half-way point between the band's Cool Death of the Island Raiders album and their most recent material. we got some right now, dig in!

I can't actually remember why we decided to do this project other than ask ourself, why had it not been done years ago? let's do it! Linkwood and Other Lands are well known from their various outings on Firecracker, Night Theatre, The Nuclear Family, Rush Hour, Dekmantel, AOTN and many other labels, both talented musicians and fierce producers. The plan was simple, drop them into the mostly finished Athens of the North studio and cross the streams….

The results are nothing short of spectacular but putting them into words or genres on paper is somewhat of a challenge. Folding modular textures, post-punk, Electro, House and Techno even ending in some lush Balearic business, they have moulded their years of experience and translated it into something new.

What strikes me when listening to the LP is both their voices have come through in this production. Other Lands guitar work and Vocal and Linkwood deep sense of Rhythm and structure. The recording of this LP was just pre-covid which seems strange as it fits now so well. Like a dream of what it would be like to be out In the city night in all its different factions.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This shimmering dancefloor stormer from Linkwood & Other Lands hits all the high points of a night out, the slow start, blistering, groove-filled highs and slow, languid finish. Brilliantly satisfying, and perfectly crafted.

TRACK LISTING

1. Theme For City
2. First Take
3. Porty
4. Face The Facts
5. 3VSR
6. Meet In The Middle
7. Don't Throw It
8. Gold Leith
9. Downright
10. Varial
11. Shapes
12. Silver Nows
13. Up Wrong

Tip-top of our osmosis list is the first quiver of tunes from Brigid Dawson and her newly minted Mothers Network: wise warnings dyed in dark hues, knotted and hard-won torch songs from the edge of a turbulent sea, bittersweet balladry spun in defense against evils familiar and unknown. Lovely though it may seem from a distance, the striation of loss quicksilvered throughout provides weighty balance to her contralto lilt. Those familiar with her harmonic counterpoint from her time in Thee Oh Sees or in OCS know she can belt as well as lullaby but there’s a fresh and smolderingly heavy swing in her step on display here that we mightily dig.

“Ballet of Apes” tapestries together sessions that read like a who’s who from outside our own castle walls - in Australia with Mikey Young (Total Control/Eddy Current Suppression Ring), in San Francisco with Mike Donovan (ex Sic Alps), Shayde Sartin (ex Fresh & Onlys/lifetime ringer) and Mike Shoun (ex Oh Sees/Peacers), and in Brooklyn with instrumental heavy-weights Sunwatchers - and the results are spellbinding. At the focal point of this maelstrom, our lady, as if illumed by candlelight, intones, pleads, consoles - white magic perhaps but it carries with it the anodized tang of blood. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Is The Time For New Incarnations
2. The Fool
3. Carletta’s In Hats Again
4. When My Day Of The Crone Comes
5. Ballet Of Apes
6. Heartbreak Jazz
7. Trixxx

Encased in a brown paper wrapping like a forgotten bit of smut from behind the beaded curtain, this unassuming disc is a time-capsule back to John Dwyer’s early SF days, janglingly fingerpicked wisps of melody and electronics baking in the all-too anemic sunshine of San Francisco’s elusive summer. Like a seashell to the ear, one can hear within it Baker Beach bike ride excursions, holding court and gently harassing passers-by on a Haight street stoop, and midnight rambles with friends from out of town, daring the sun to come up.

Somewhere chronologically between the folky whisper of Songs About Death And Dying and the recently reissued Cool Death Of Island Raiders, this one’s been vexing to find for way too long and Castle Face has decided to give it “the treatment”. May it awaken the gentle glow of possibility dappled with the dancing shadow of danger that it stirs around this castle.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Much anticipated reissue of this low-key/lo-fi The(e) Oh Sees EP from 2006, now available on green vinyl. Don't snooze!

TRACK LISTING

1. I Agree
2. Grave Blocker
3. Burning Bridges
4. Cunny Sharms
5. I Am Slow (demo)
6. The Great Crush
7. Drone #3
8. Drone #4

Announcing a reissue of The Oh Sees - The Cool Death of Island Raiders
We here at Castle Face are not afraid to get our shins dirty mucking around in the stacks and we’re well aware of an out-of-press gap of Oh Sees releases right before 2006 when we started the label with Sucks Blood. We’re rectifying that and first among these is The Cool Death of Island Raiders, a particularly dusty gem that we think merits another look.

Kicking off the record with what should have been the hit of the summer that year but for the hard C in the title, "The Gilded Cunt" seems to clearly preface Oh Sees’ later psych skewed pop sensibilities. At the time it was an obvious jam and I recall being floored by its shuffling beauty. Chirping birds, gently lapping tempos and the nascent harmonization of Bridgid Dawson and Dwyer detail what I consider to be a definitive highlight of their early quiet period of the band. The tree hangs heavy with Patrick Mullins’ handiwork, manning the musical saw, drums, and an assortment of home made electronics. It seemed a bit radical to be so quiet about it but the tunes are total earworms among the assorted drones, cut up bits of tape noise, and mellow front porch vibes, and the whole thing hangs together in a lovely hand-made way, helped in no small part by Dave Sitek’s production (he would later work on Master’s Bedroom as well). “

We flew Brigid out a fresh woman and literally sent her home on a plane with a trash bag of her clothes” says John. Evidently the whole record was accidentally erased at some point right around when the photo on the back of the jacket was taken, which makes it all the more remarkable that the result sounds so casually and confidently careworn. 

TRACK LISTING

1. The Gilded Cunt
2. The Dumb Drums
3. Turn Offs
4. Losers In The Sun
5. Drone Number One
6. Island Raiders
7. Cool Death
8. Broken Stems
9. We Are Free
10. Drone Number Two
11. You Oughta Go Home

“For folks who dig A Frames, Country Teasers, Wire, Gang of Four, pita chips and dad’s boozy breath, may we present The Intelligence, captured live in a truly subterranean underground show space below SF vintage clothier Vacation.

“Lars Finberg: a name synonymous with artisanal hand-crafted, locally brewed, and organically-farmed song lasers. Hilarious, fast, tour-tight and ballsy—the band has all these perks in pocket, and all that on borrowed gear! I’ve watched this band go through many variations over the years and in their own right all of them have been marvelous. This particular version of the line up is constructed entirely of road-dogs. These guys don’t fuck around—or maybe they only fuck around, who can tell anymore? They drink, they get bawdy, they shred, and when we asked Lars if the band would be into doing a small show in a basement in the Tenderloin in SF for a live LP, he asked ‘What should we play?’ and I replied ‘nothing but the hits’— and they did exactly that.

“The Intelligence and Lars himself are masters at the penning of hits—hit after hit after hit—and with a soft-shoed tippity-tap of crowd work and banter, you can really smell the basement on this one and feel the cobwebs grazing the top of your head as you go deaf in one ear from the eye level PA pointed directly at your soul hole. If you love this band then this is a great live LP of them scorching the hits and talking trash. If you don’t know this band (shame on you) then this is a good place to start.” —John Dwyer

TRACK LISTING

1. Virgos
2. Dating Cops
3. Debt & ESP
4. We Refuse (To Pay The Dues)
5. Whip My Valet
6. Evil Is Easy
7. Thank You God For Fixing The Tape Machine
8. Estate Sales
9. Janitors
10. (They Found Me In The Back Of The) Galaxy
11. Confidence
12. Telephone Wires
13. Males

Announcing a totally far-out split release from unexpected corners: fave Hoosier-via-SF tripper transplants Burnt Ones sweet-talked the one and only Space Lady into a sharing an album, and the results are magical. In her inimitable style The Space Lady sparkles through “Across the Universe,” “Starman,” a brand-new original called “The Next Right Thing” and an achingly elegaic “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” These beautiful tunes are wonderful additions to her lovely repertoire.

For their half, Burnt Ones mellow down their sound, crafting a warm cocoon on two kaliedoscopic creepers, peaking just a little with a floweringly spaced-out version of the Space Lady’s greatest hit, “Synthesize Me,” and closing with another druggy lullaby. It’s sweet and mellow ride through both sides and it’s out on Castle Face Records.

TRACK LISTING

1. Space Lady - Across The Universe
2. Space Lady - Starman
3. Space Lady - The Next Right Thing
4. Space Lady - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
5. Burnt Ones - The Good Life
6. Burnt Ones - Infinity Suite
7. Burnt Ones - Synthesize Me
8. Burnt Ones - Not Here, But There

Announcing the long overdue seventh entry in Castle Face’s Live in San Francisco series, starring The Blind Shake.

Captured to tape at the same shows as the OBN IIIs’ live record, The Blind Shake were tour-greased and fully torqued over three night at The Chapel in San Francisco way back in 2013. For those unfamiliar: the sheer bodily reaction to seeing these guys is a unique pleasure. They are consistently one of the most fun bands doin’ it to it these days—such a direct channel to your inner teenager it’s more often than not you end up in the pit, awash in baritone guitar and that “let’s wig out” beat.

Whether you’re a noob or a vet, all your bludgeoning favorites are here, one song combing into the next with tasty bites of guitar, and man, they swing that hammer all over this thing. A sterling testament to their claim as the heaviest nice guys around. Their chrome domes shined up real nice for the excellent night-of photographs from main man Brian Pritchard, and as usual John Dwyer, Chris Woodhouse, Eric Bauer and Bob Marshall were manning the decks, keepin’ it crisped for the hi-fis at home.

A collection of unearthed demos and repolished old tracks, out September 24th on Castle Face Records Featuring original artwork by Shalo P

No one sounds like The Herms.
No one sounds like Matthew Lutz.

The Herms are a smudged window into a neighboring dimension to ours, Berkeley. Even though it's right next door to Oakland and San Francisco, it may as well be a million musical-miles away. Back when they were playing around town, it felt to me like not too many in my scene "got" this band. I thought people should have been going crazy for these guys. The local rag gave them accolades (a curse perhaps?), and even a cursory listen to this collection should clue you in to how great they were. This may be one of the few times that I have to concur with a music writer - this band is amazing. They are sun, heartbreak, pop and fried-static all in one master package, evolving from song to song, and I think they're fantastic.

The Herms did have a proper release years ago, but on CD only (gasp!) and frankly I've always been in love with these earlier, rawer 8 track Tascam demos. They sound like the band did when you were standing in front of them. I love The Herms and have been waiting a looooong time to do a proper release for them. Sorry it took exhuming their songs from the grave before I was ready. Please listen loudly with the windows open, so maybe that music writer may pass by, hear it and think, "Finally! I told you so, you assholes". John Dwyer 7-10-13.

TRACK LISTING

Power Joystick (original)
The Organization (Tascam Demo)
Volleyball
Now Everyone
Drop Out
All The Things You Do
When We Comin' Through
Here We Are
Art School Groove Exit Theme
Come On Down
Kalypso
This Operation (Acoustic Demo)

Perhaps you've heard of the trajectory our beloved friend Greer McGettrick and her cohorts in The Mallard have traced across the current musical landscape…a promisingly home-baked debut full of twists and turns that nonetheless felt of the time and lived in…tours and tours and tours…songs on splits and compilations, including both Son Of Flex and our covers record of The Velvet Underground and Nico…shifting band members and band members shifting instruments…the now infamous Noise Pop performance where they played as Throbbing Gristle at one of the oldest and most venerated venues in San Francisco, The Great American Music Hall, to a thoroughly bewildered audience…all the while getting faster darker and sharper…and after coming back from SXSW, the sudden dissolution - with an album finished, and already being printed and pressed with us, their now-swan song Finding Meaning In Deference.

It's a conversation interrupted to be sure, but one that you should be listening in on. There's an unapologetic maelstrom of dark energy simmering beneath the surface of these tunes, but it never subsumes some of the group's best songwriting efforts yet. The myriad guitar/vocal interplay is sharp as ever, the pissed-off is turned up to 10, but there's an ever-present bop and hook to even the most bummed-out tunes here. If you never got to see them, I'm sorry - but this record catches them in excellent form at the zenith of their powers, a guitar somehow hung from the rafters for the rest of eternity - we're sad to see them go, but thrilled to share this excellent record with the world.

Dispelling any burden of ‘the difficult second album’, Esben And The Witch have comprehensively transcended any such slump or curse with ‘Wash The Sins Not Only The Face’, a majestic, haunting and triumphant work that is not ‘difficult’ in the slightest.

Their second full-length brings to fruition concepts that glimmered on their first, 2011’s acclaimed ‘Violet Cries’, but there are no laurels being rested upon here. To make their second album, Esben And The Witch questioned, challenged and rewired their past to find the way to their future and have produced their first masterpiece.

To quote Daniel Copeman, “We had a clearer idea of what we wanted to achieve on this album, and how we could achieve it. We’re more focused, more confident.”

Their first album took them on the road, and the road took them all over the globe. It was on these journeys, during van-held conversations, that their second album began to take shape, the band happening upon an ancient Greek palindrome ‘Nipson anomēmata mē monan opsin’ which, when translated, gave ‘Wash The Sins Not Only The Face’ its title.

They wanted the album to unfurl like a journey, like a day, where opening songs are possessed of a brightness, an optimism that ebbs away over the record’s course. The radiant glide of opener ‘Iceland Spar’, gives way to the bleak lonesomeness of ‘Yellow Wood’, the moment where the sun sets, with closing track ‘Smashed To Pieces In The Still Of The Night’ ending proceedings at a peak of drama and intensity.

Previously, lyrics were written more collaboratively between the trio; this time Rachel assumed the sole responsibility herself, honing her words and stories. The lyrics are inspired by TS Eliot and Sylvia Plath, by the works of Vladimir Nabokov and Philip Pullman, Salvador Dali and the surrealist movement; that, and van conversations questioning what it would be like to meet your doppelganger thousands of miles from home.

The result is an album that finds new shades within the Esben palette, and when placed alongside ‘Violet Cries’, feels like a fuzzy image that’s pulled successfully into focus.

All of this makes you wonder where this road will take them next. More to the point, it makes you want to savour where Esben And The Witch are at now, because ‘Wash The Sins Not Only The Face’ is a sublime experience, an album whose mysteries and riddles will entrance.

TRACK LISTING

Iceland Spar
Slow Wave
When That Head Splits
Shimmering
Deathwaltz
Yellow Wood
Despair
Putting Down The Prey
The Fall Of Glorieta Mountain
Smashed To Pieces In The Still Of The Night

Never Surrender features John Porcell who is the embodiement of true NYC hardcore. This split CD has five new songs blasting out with his new band that are bound to make a splash. Split CD with another angry, pissed off, fast hardcore band in Face The Enemy. Think bands like American Nightmare and Poison The Well.