Best known for keeping the beat in the storied psych-rock troupe OSEES, Dan Rincon is now stepping into his own limelight with his first solo venture, Spotlight City, set to drop on the 3rd of May via Castle Face Records.

Imagine a city conjured from thin air, where the streets hum with synths and the skyline is aglow with electronic vibes. This is ‘Spotlight City,’ meticulously built by Rincon’s impressive array of synthesizers, starring the illustrious Moog Grandmother, the mysterious Mellotron, and a quirky Modular system.

Cessna, the album’s inaugural single, unfolds as a mesmerizing blend of droning electro-orchestral vibes, setting the tone for the record. With strings that soar sky-high and sines that zip and zag with the precision of a well-rehearsed dance troupe, Cessna will gently transport you to your destination. One moment, you’re adrift among the clouds; the next, you’re plunging into the core of the earth, or whisking through a neon-lit cityscape that feels lifted straight from the pages of vintage sci-fi.

The track effortlessly transitions from moments of serene beauty to spine-tingling magnificence, embodying the countless hours Rincon has poured into perfecting his experimental world. He masterfully harmonizes a diverse ensemble of electronic elements: throughout this splendid composition, influences from Kraftwerk, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Tangerine Dream, and Delia Derbyshire subtly intertwine.

Cessna weaves together strands of hope and melancholy, accompanied by an exhilarating visualizer from Delaney ________ that invites you to explore the city through the lens of the “Cessna Dreamflight Simulator,” offering a unique aerial perspective with the dizzying pixel technology of 1990.

“I was listening to a lot of solo Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler records while writing this record and I’d say that both have been hugely inspirational on what I want to do as a solo recording artist,” says Rincon. “The way both of those of those artist pushed the early, chaotic electronic music into something more melodic is really inspiring to me, it’s not that dissimilar than trying to get melodies out of a modular synthesizer.”

Watch the video below:

“Spotlight City” is an adventure into the heart of creativity, with Rincon leading the charge. Strap in —it’s going to be one heck of a trip.

A limited pressing will be availabke soon, but today Cessna is available on all streaming services.

Rincon spoke with Post-Punk.com about his process, ideas, and the album’s concept:

This is your first record as a solo artist, how did you find the experience of creating your own record from scratch?

It was a long learning process, I didn’t even know how to record my own music before doing this record, as every other album ive played on has been as a drummer. I know what I like and know what I would want to hear on a record like this and used that as inspiration.

Where did the idea to create a record based around the fictional location of Spotlight City come from?

I’ve always liked themed records, i.e. Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, and I’ve always liked soundtracks. I like that listening to a soundtrack can bring you back to the part of the film the track was used in, i.e. John Carpenter’s Over the Wall from the Escape From New York soundtrack. While I was writing this record, I originally treated it as a fictional soundtrack, trying to create a mood for a shot of a film and that evolved into what it is now, I say it’s a bit of both, a fake soundtrack about a fake city. “Spotlight City Flyover” is supposed to feel like you’re in a police helicopter flying over the city at night, hearing radio chatter while looking down over backstreets and alleys.

This record uses quite a few synths to create its soundscapes, do you have a favorite instrument, patch, or sound that’s on the record?

The mellotron is a secret weapon. I’m not a great keys player, but I could play a Mellotron with my elbows and something beautiful would come out. I would say that might be the most important instrument on this album – it’s used by itself, used as the source for a vocoder and heavily processed through a modular synthesizer. It’s a wonderful instrument.

The Spotlight City LP will be out on May 5th, via Castle Face Records.

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The post Dan Rincon Announces “Spotlight City” LP and Shares Dreamflight Simulator Video for “Cessna” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Dee Dee stands at the helm of this vibrant platform, not merely curating tracks but weaving stories through a meticulously selected collection that spans the frosty whispers of coldwave, the vibrant beats of Italo and synth-pop, to the boundary-pushing sounds of post-punk. Dee Dee’s Picks invites music aficionados on a captivating journey through the Swiss music landscape, offering a thriving cultural hub where in-depth interviews reveal the essence of the artists and their creative processes, and music video premieres showcase the unique Swiss aesthetic,

For those drawn to the allure of Alpine music, both old and new, Dee Dee’s Picks offers an exclusive backstage pass to explore the rich, textured world of Swiss coldwave, synth, and post-punk treasures.

Dee Dee was gracious enough to do an interview with Post-Punk.com to discuss life in and out of Switzerland, the platform’s foray into journalism, and what’s next for Dee Dee’s Picks.

What initially inspired you to specifically focus on Swiss music and culture with Dee Dee’s Picks? How has your experience of living abroad and missing aspects of growing up in Switzerland influenced the platform’s direction?

Prior to leaving Switzerland from the age of 11, I felt that not many people saw the appeal of things that were traditionally Swiss. Most media that were seen as cool on television programs , radio broadcasts or billboards were American, or at least spoken in English. So I felt that there was less incentive to be proud of your own culture. The beginning of the domestication of the Internet also meant that English was a must, since I was more curious in seeing what was happening abroad as opposed to next door, so to speak. In opposition to this, it seems that nowadays people are tired of everything being the same everywhere. There seems to be a newfound appreciation to go back to your roots and be more local. The search for differentialism and individualism has developed into a newfound attractiveness to the charm of the niche, rarity and exclusivity. Additionally, having moved around, meant that I was missing the aspect of integration in a specific community that you already had ties in. 

Another reason I wanted to focus on Switzerland is by no means suggesting that its scene is superior, but rather to help me retain the focus on something, like a region. I didn’t know where to start otherwise as there’s so much good music out there. At first I didn’t know what to expect when I first started, whether I’d find enough music that I’d like or anything relevant to talk about. But it has been a continuous prompt of surprises and directions in the people I have met. Here I am in Year Four, which will end with (normally) a handful of more releases. Dee Dee’s Picks is after all to challenge myself into bringing something unknown to a more international audience. I wasn’t really sure why Swiss artists were not being more represented from abroad despite having the rich multicultural flexibility that it has. So I wanted to see if I could create a better bridge between Switzerland and the rest of the world. Eventually, this became a bit of a front, as the project evolved further than simply being a socio-cultural commentary. It rather became an opportunity to peek into the complexity of lives of others, the intimacy through their creative process and releasing their music or talking about their projects. You get so much more than just what’s on the surface. You get a real time movie, where you get to direct and act in. 

Aboriginal Voices

You mentioned transitioning from wanting to start a record label to creating a website focused on Helvetian culture. Can you discuss this journey and what prompted the shift in your vision?

It’s to create context around my findings. And for accessibility reasons, especially regarding the music. I realised rather quickly when I started Dee Dee’s Picks you’d have to be a committed digger to have previously heard of releases from bands like Aboriginal Voices or Mario Scherrer beforehand, whereas if you were a regular record store attendee in Switzerland it was relatively easier (albeit still rather underground). 

For myself, the best records are those where storytelling relates to the music in front of you. I find that humans are fascinated by stories, whether visually or sonically. The desire to dream and be inspired, which is why I find music and visual components related to storytelling very important to Dee Dee’s Picks. Because everything from the font on vinyl sleeves and graphic design are original, it was important for me to understand its origins and where it was coming from. I didn’t want to release things I didn’t know about so therefore opted to ask people around the scene if I could talk about Swiss graphic design, their perception of it and such to get more insight. It’s important to understand its origins and to get to know how the artist came to apply such techniques to their own work. The more I was digging, the more I realised that there is a lot more than just the music that revolves around Helvetian cultural identity. There is a whole creative facet that synergised around it, visuals artists, collectives, illustrators, graphic designers, all contribute to what a scene is. I wanted to unravel a storytelling aspect and unveil the artist differently than what we see on social media. To give depth to art as opposed to scratching its surface level by a half second scroll. 

Dee Dee’s Picks seems to have evolved into a form of journalism, particularly with the inclusion of interviews. How did this evolution come about, and what role does journalism play in your platform now?

It’s also the idea to remove some mysticism around each other, whether it is our local scene or our neighbouring countries. I took it upon myself to tell the story of people the best way that I could, as I would be representing them. I think there is a responsibility to tell the truths of people and to genuinely ask thought provoking questions out of respect for their work. I could put out more content at regular intervals by repeating some template-like questions but I’d rather take the necessary time to cater questions relevant to myself and the featured artist.

Social media broke down boundaries on granular levels regarding what’s happening next door. I also think the fact that most people speak English fluently and are online breaks down a lot of barriers and incites more curiosity in what is happening beyond your neighbourhood and also ways to find out about it. Therefore, the need to evolve into some form of journalism became apparent. It’s my way of bettering and contributing positively to today’s digital music ecosystems in terms of context and information. It can be difficult to get the whole picture of an artist solely from their online presence. I find the presentation of the music and art via social media so database-like; souleless, that it usually doesn’t really incorporate any valuable knowledge or inspiration on how a piece of art is made. It became more of a list of numbers, accounts.. with the idea that its value is determined by the number of plays/likes/views on it, all seen and to be opinionated upon publicly. Moreso that streaming services like Spotify do not provide much archival information as opposed to when you own a record on a tangible format, it is more likely to have information in the back, on inner sleeves and so forth. Sure, this is perhaps more relevant to those who build collections, archives or libraries such as myself, but it also speaks for the interests driving the design of these services. People should have the possibility to inform themselves about the whole universe that came into place to ‘make’ this release or art. It’s a way to branch out to make the listener/viewer aware that a release/project does not always just come from a sole member, but an array of creative individuals that were able to make this project real. From who did the mix, mastering, pressing, graphics, videos, promotion…It’s also another way of discovering a certain period, or a certain scene from a certain network. It’s the way it should be held to help each other. In the end, the art outlives the person who made it, so there is a sense of responsibility to preserve context that will in the end translate into memories for the next listener. I find the idea to immortalise yourself and your art online very powerful. Love it or hate it, you will always find pieces of yourself and others from the past and for future generations. 

Bermuda Idiots 

It’s also to retain the imagery of the ethic of working together, not for or against each other. To be involved in each other’s lives as opposed to seclusion. To give the opportunity for people who have something to say, whether it’s a concept, production technique or really just an identity. It is so important to credit each other with our works in order to thrive together. Regardless, whatever kind of artistic output an artist has in the end, they shine through these aspects that turn into their own artistic signature.  This is why I think that some people get confused when I say “we released” as opposed to singular. Because it is really a collaborative effort to make these things happen. It would not have the same impact or surrounding vision just by one person. You sometimes need to have an outsider to help you see outside of the box in how your art can be perceived, be defined and what it means to them and to yourself. Hindsight and reflection is not something you can always do by yourself in the present. It is not always evident to reflect on your work, as you continuously evolve as a person in life and go forward with future projects. So actually discussing projects and topics is something most of the people I’ve worked with seem to appreciate instead of being pushed into constantly having a creative output with no reflection.

Given your unique perspective, having lived both inside and outside Switzerland, how do you see Dee Dee’s Picks contributing to the global understanding and appreciation of Swiss culture?

Something that I noticed is that on one hand, I think that it is really fascinating to Switzerland is how despite its size, it functions with 4 languages, quite intertwined with English and other cultures. So you really get a melting pot of influences from each respective neighbouring country and meet in the middle. From what I’ve witnessed, the broad range of influences comes from neighbouring countries before amalgamating from within. Regarding music, I find that on the Swiss German side, cities like Zurich have a more Industrial, EBM edge to the music, probably due to germanic influenceas. Whereas cities like Geneva on the french side, something more bass and dub oriented, possibly due to the immense squat scene that occurred in the 90s where Dub genres were very prominent. 

On the other hand, I find that the concept of locality and the underground scene dissipating to some extent because of the popularisation of social media makes trends less grounded to a local scene or movement, but rather to the world wide web directly. Since we have access to so much content online, it’s easier than ever for example to draw inspiration from the work of a Swiss artist based in Brussels who was then influenced by someone’s work in Beijing. The lines are getting blurred from their origin. To further elaborate, Swiss typography or graphic design is something quite unique, although replicated in various cultures, However, many artists that I featured on Dee Dee’s Picks have an educational background that focuses on this style or art that has been ingrained in Swiss culture for decades, to which they naturally include into their own creative endeavours. Whatever is encompassed in this core is what never leaves. The trends surrounding it come and go quickly because they do not stick as much due to its speed of diffusion, whether related to social media algorithms or not. There’s a globalisation of using tools and techniques that if reached high in popularity, means we will get bored of it a lot quicker due to over exposure.

It’s inevitable that by living in the modern world, using the same tools as others, that people will spot similarities to their own works. Thus I try to always be aware of maintaining an aspect of traditional and personal in Dee Dee’s Picks. To respect the influence of Swiss design that is still obviously relevant to this day and my own, as well as the artist’s personal perspective. 

Mario Scherrer

What do you look for when featuring or releasing someone via Dee Dee’s Picks?

There’s no strict criteria besides the fact that you have to be at least based in Switzerland. Or Swiss living abroad. The idea of nationalism does not particularly interest me. You could be Swedish but based in Switzerland and that would still work. I focus more on the idea of contributing and taking something to your community. That, and to explore the more “underground” areas of the world.

Regardless of the storytelling aspects, there is still this immense feeling of responsibility to not just put anything out. It is important that I foremost find a connection in these artists for me to be able to talk about them confidently. I look for identity to relate to a core, basically artists who have their own musical language or artistic identity and not necessarily experts in a certain field. I do keep some popular appeal in order to be enthused by others because I am considerate and realistic about how many people go to record stores and buy such albums. Therefore, in the decision making process, I don’t want to have this rapid pace of picking up trends and moving on. I like to ask myself when considering a release: can I see myself listening to this in five or in ten years time? After all, the artists I work with are the people who define Dee Dee’s Picks. It’s not enough to give, you need to take something also for yourself.

With the dissolution of locality, do you keep trying to keep a balance between keeping the outside world from Switzerland connected? Old and contemporary? To what extent is is strict?

I find it particularly difficult to be very reactive yet focused in today’s fast-moving environment. You are exposed to a lot more work by talented individuals and trends come and go much faster. Sometimes, as rapidly as they are conceptualised. I do incorporate some trending and outside elements on my platform because I do belong in today’s world regardless where my head is at. My surroundings, whether past, present or future, are constant influences on how we evolve as people. I’m not against mimicking external influences as they indirectly shape us as an individual. In my case, I add a personal touch with the inclusion of the obi on every release. Something very common on LP formats in Japan, which I took interest in through an internship with Guruguru Brain. I do this because it’s important to have a piece of myself in Dee Dee’s Picks. This also be expressed through writing, mastering or graphic designing. It is important for me to not only stay true to my ethic, technique or approach but also that my work relates to contemporary tastes and be relevant with what is happening around you. Therefore to better myself as a curator on Dee Dee’s Picks means I have to keep a healthy balance of awareness and development, which is a reason why I have not released the same artist twice. At the same time, being self-indulgent gives me the ressources to be able to keep inspiration going. 

Despite not having the same upbringing that the people I have worked with, I do have memories, things that were once ever so present in my surroundings, that make me gravitate and recognise pieces of myself in the Swiss art style. Whether its graphic design or typography for instance, is something I am subconsciously drawn to. It’s rather unique, which I want to maintain in the releases and Dee Dee’s Picks identity. This is in part to why I also like to collaborate with non-Swiss people, like we did for the artwork and graphic designer for Infesta’s record. This continuously helps me break out of the box and to have non-natives have their interpretation of the work, have their own signature with it, and thus mutate it into something new. This idea of inclusion probably comes from me growing up in Singapore, where my environment encouraged me to use other’s ideas and cultural upbringing and incorporate them the best way possible in your environment in part for diplomacy and for the other, progress. 

Infesta

Looking towards the future, how do you envision Dee Dee’s Picks evolving, especially in terms of balancing the representation of past and present Swiss music and culture?

In regards to releases, I couldn’t tell you. I treat it as I see things developing, the people I encounter, the situations I find myself in. I try to plan my year to maintain a sort of chronological order for releases so they make sense to some extent next to each other, as some of them intertwine per collective, location, collaborators and the such.  For the near future, I will be solely working with contemporary artists. Unfortunately, tracking artists that were active pre internet era is a very time consuming task, whereas I do not always have the resources for. Thankfully, I have my two radio residencies on Echobox Radio (Amsterdam) and Fade Radio (Athens) to have the possibility to broadcast my various findings, and thus maintain a sort of coherent balance between time periods. For example, in February, I will be broadcasting on Echobox Radio one hour of 70s-80s Swiss Italo Disco as part of my “Dee Dee’s Club Picks” series, and for Fade Radio, two hours of unearthed Swiss Minimal Wave, Post-Punk, and more, from the past and today.

Nordland

But to conclude, the way that I’ve found myself preserving the Dee Dee’s Picks seal of approval on upcoming projects and the eclecticism in its content is on one hand unpredictability. On the other, it’s through experience. Dee Dee’s Picks has been active for quite a while now, so the recurring fanbase seems to “get” what I am doing. It also plays a part for myself and the audience in what you like and what works for you. Trial and error. I think what makes it exciting and enthused is that I am willing to take risks and not go for the obvious and already established artists. Artists that are part of a scene, but outsider enough that their work does not quite hit evident genres, despite evoquing familiarity. That’s what I look for, regardless of its genre. Even though we did releases that were perhaps more traditional and in their element, there was always a twist. For example, some of the artists’ I have worked with wanted to compose an album without a theme, which they were worried they would have nothing to talk about prior to its release. I make it my duty to tackle it from an outsider’s perspective. It’s important to make one think (whether the maker or consumer), to challenge them, in order to break barriers and move on to next levels of experimentation in discoveries. 

Next releases will be from March onwards, always contrasting what we have put out so far on Dee Dee’s Picks. We have Baroque music with an electronic contemporary reimagination by Basel-based Marie Delprat, Baile Funk rhythms from the Neuchatelian skateboard scene by Dimosoundz, and breakbeat madness from Lausanne’s Atonal.

Check out some of Dee Dee’s mixes:

• Swiss 80s post-punk minimal wave further flavoured with contemporary Helvetian artists 
• Dee Dee’s Club Picks Vol. 3 – Swiss Italo Disco mix from the 70s-80s.

Post-punk, minimal wave, punk, coldwave releases:

• DDP010 Passerella by Infesta
• DDP007 The First Album – Aboriginal Voices
• DDP006 Kollected Kashews 2017​-​2021 by Don Kashew
• DDP005 Live at Fri​-​Son ’87 – Nordland
• DDP004 Squares and Crossings – Mario Scherrer
• DDP003 ALL WE WANTED by Bermuda Idiots
• DDP002 Musique Électronique Pour La Sc​è​ne Et L’image 1976 – 1992

Follow Dee Dee’s Picks:

• Website
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• Bandcamp
• Soundcloud

The post Dee Dee’s Picks — A Curation of Swiss Coldwave, Synth, and Post-Punk Treasures appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

While the band would change members throughout the late eighties and early nineties, the original core lineup of vocalist Robbie Grey, bassist Mick Conway, guitarist Gary McDowell, and keyboardist Stephen Walker have been recording and releasing a string of incredible records in the modern era, with their latest, this year’s fantastic 1, 2, 3, 4 earning massive accolades across the board. The band are about to head out on an expansive tour that takes them across the world, joining both The Buzzcocks and Thomas Dolby at various points.

We had a chance to talk to Modern English vocalist Robbie Grey about the band’s history, the new record’s political leanings, and the secret to keeping a band together over the years:

Your latest record, 1,2,3,4 has the same vitality as any of your work – it truly sounds like Modern English in the best way possible. How did the record come together?

Well, what you’re getting there is the live feel of the record. The first thing we thought about when recording this album was to consciously get away from that homogenized radio sound where everyone’s using Pro Tools and splicing things together. We wanted to make a live recording as much as we could, so you could feel the movement from  the verse to the chorus. When we first started writing the record, it would have been right around when the pandemic hit in 2020. In England, we were only allowed to go outside for a couple of hours a day, unless you were going to a workplace, which you could go to three days a week. So, we would go over to Mick’s studio, which was nearby in Suffolk. We all gathered there to write the record, but we always knew that we wanted to keep it raw. We had done that for a while and we wanted to get a producer who would allow for that. So, Mario (J. McNulty) came along and we talked about sticking to that live feeling. We then went to a great studio in upstate New York in Rhinebeck and it all just came together really well. It doesn’t always work out like that. It’s like a painting, I suppose. You can either do a really bad one or a really good one, and all the pieces just really fit together for this album…

That’s cool you were in Rhinebeck. I actually grew up in Goshen, which is only an hour or so away from there. It’s such a beautiful area.

Well, Mick lives in Hudson now, I believe. He’s been living in that area for quite some time.

So were any of the songs written before you entered the studio, or were they all written there? 

No, no, we never really come in with a full record ready to go. Actually, for the first time probably ever I wrote a full song for the record in advance, and that was “Long In the Tooth.” When I wrote that song back in my little studio room to when it was recorded and released it’s not changed at all really. Normally though, we start things off with just pieces of music that we develop. We don’t really have complete songs generally. “Not Fake” was another song that was already kind of written, and Mick’s song “Not My Leader” didn’t really change all that much either from the beginning. So, I suppose there are a couple of songs on there that were written from the start, but generally we kind of fiddle around quite a lot as we go.

The lyrics seem quite political – can you tell us a bit about them?

Yeah, I mean, I’m just pissed off with everything, you know? It’s just crazy that people in power just don’t give a shit about anybody else and that’s so frustrating after all this time that the decent side of humanity never seems to get very far but the corrupt people and those who generally crave power seem to be much nastier. It seems to me that if you want to stay in power, you have to be that way, and decent people on the street are just sort of fed up with it. I am at least, anyway. When we first started and came to your country, we had Margaret Thatcher and you had Ronald Reagan. Fast forward from the late 70s and early 80s and it hasn’t changed all that much. In fact, you’ve got a clown like Donald Trump who is very likely going to be your president again, from the looks of it…

Ugh, no one learned anything. It’s kind of maddening.

It’s not even funny, is it? It’s just crazy.

The only way I can survive is to laugh, sometimes. I just can’t believe how surreal it all is most of the time. 

Right! So, a lot of the lyrics on the album, like “Not My Leader” are all about that. “Not Fake” is about things becoming less and less rooted in true humanity really, you know people wanting to have different faces, different bodies, and different brains. Everyone wants to be something else all the time, it’s about that deconstructed sense of nature. I spend a lot of time in Southeast Asia and I live in the countryside in England. Both are near the beach, and seeing the amount of garbage in the ocean inspired another song on the album called “Plastic.” It’s maddening – they clean the beaches daily but they’re filled with trash again in the blink of an eye.

In “Voices” – it’s interesting that you namecheck Billie Holiday and Karen Carpenter – two of the saddest and most tragic figures in pop music. It makes me wonder, what’s that song about in the context of the political machine and how do those lovely singers factor into the story?

Well, I just know that they’re too the best voices I’ve ever heard of my life. That song to me is about gun culture and how young people are brainwashed into believing that the only way out is to go out and blow people up. The song is about someone sitting in their bedroom with a gun in their hands and the internet in front of them, and being disturbed enough to actually go out and hurt someone. Perhaps if they heard a voice like Karen or Billie’s it would help them and they could find some solace in the music. Maybe if they listened to these voices they could hear the beauty and loss they sing about and it could soothe their soul…

That’s really beautiful, and that track is such a standout.

Thank you, thank you.

I love how active Modern English has been over the years, I’ve seen the band several times and you’ve always been one of my favorite live acts. Your energy on stage is unmatched, and you always have so much passion, no matter if you’re playing new music, deep cuts, or the hits. I’d love to know what the secret is to keeping a band together in harmony after all this time.

Well, as you get older, you do tend to let people get away with a lot more than you would have when you were younger! You don’t end up fighting with each other so much. Really, we’ve known each other since we were teenagers, we came from the same town and lived in London for over 30 years. We went through so much together in the eighties and nineties that at this point, we can just sort of take the piss out of each other and people won’t get offended, which is a good thing. Otherwise, the energy level on stage is just how it’s always been. I guess I don’t know what else to do apart from what we do. I feel that energy and react as I always have.

I’d love to hear more about the formation of the band – what brought you all together in 1979? 

Well, that’s brilliant you should ask that because you know, we’re not jaded yet! The creative process is the most important thing about music. The rest of it, once it leaves your hands, is business, really. That part overshadows the creative process a lot, but as long as you can keep writing songs and keep that creative energy flowing, you’re doing all right.

As for  the start of things, it was just an amazing time to be in the UK. Punk happened, and you had people like The Clash and the Sex Pistols on TV which was all very new and very exciting. Before that, we’d listen to Bowie and Roxy Music, things like that, but we never dreamt that we could play music. We thought it was something that other people, these immense talents and virtuosos, could do and that we never could. So when this punk thing happened, we felt empowered, we became part of that whole thing. It just swept over the nation and changed the whole landscape of music almost overnight. After a bit, it got a bit boring, playing just this fast and furious music all the time, so everyone started experimenting in that framework, forming what everyone now calls the post-punk thing. This is where bands started going off on their own and exploring their own ideas, carving out more soundscapes and doing what they wanted with that punk energy. It was such a brilliant time around 1978-79 with all the bands that came out around us. Joy Division, The Cure, Wire, Gang of Four, and so on. This all shaped so much of England’s musical culture, so we were able to put our band together to do something similar.

It’s kind of amazing to think about all the bands that formed and quickly embraced this sound more or less independently from each other, yet still there was this unified movement of sorts…  

Well, John Peel had a lot to do with that. He championed a lot of the bands around that time would play play bands on the BBC that nobody else would go near, at all this kind of crazy wild music by bands who never would write a love song or make music that was like everything else on the radio. He had a lot to do with that unification, but also in general, the whole country was on fire and we were all reacting to that. It was brilliant. There was no money around, the UK was a very poor country outside of those who were in power and who were already rich. Most didn’t have anything at all. We used to steal microphones from concerts, and Gary’s first guitar was worth only $30 or so. Most of these bands, including us, really started from the ground up, and it was all very exciting. That energy was present from the start, you know?

Yeah, and with that in mind, Gary got such a unique sound out of that guitar. To me, those early Modern English guitar textures are otherworldly – so atmospheric and intense. 

Yeah, you know, stick it through a chorus and a flanger and it sounds brilliant!

Can you share any stories about your time on 4AD?

Well, it was if you remember Vaughan Oliver died, you know, I think five years ago now… I think his first artwork was the “Gathering Dust” single in 1980.

Right – with the shadow figures sitting next to the television set! 

Yeah! So that was the first artwork he ever did for the label… His last ever work was the re-imagining of Mesh & Lace and After the Snow, which came out just a few years ago. So it’s a real sense of synergy with 4AD there.

Otherwise, Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent were the guys that signed us. We sent them a demo, and you know, it was just a wild demo we made of our earliest tracks, and they liked it and picked up on us. We were one of the first bands who signed with the label, along with Bauhaus, and then of course it all built up from there with Cocteau Twins, The Birthday Party, Dead Can Dance, and so on…

So we were kind of in at the beginning, at a time when Factory was also operating in the north with all those bands – Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Crispy Ambulance, and of course Mute Records were doing their thing with Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget, and Daniel Miller. It was such an exciting time… All of us used to play with each other quite a lot – we did some gigs with The Birthday Party and so on. It was a wildly creative period, that 79-81 era…

I really liked that first 7” you recorded – the “Drowning Man” single. but the band really took it so much further out once you locked in with 4AD. Was that where you were heading naturally, or did 4AD’s early lineup and mission statement influence your sound? 

Well, the simple answer to that is we just became better musicians rather quickly. When we recorded “Drowning Man,” we couldn’t even really tune our guitars. We didn’t know how to do that. If you listen to that single, you might notice that we’re out of tune completely! That said, it’s got a certain quality to it that works. Mesh & Lace however, we went in the shooter. We did that record live as well, actually. A lot of that’s live. It’s a very experimental record. Ken Thomas who worked with Throbbing Gristle, engineered it and Ivo was in the studio with us as well. We were in the studio for only two weeks. It all very quick, you know, there was no back and forth, no debating about what was right and what wasn’t. We just went for it without too many overdubs, and it gives it that kind of quality. Everything’s a bit wild. We always enjoy using atmosphere more than musical playing, if you know what I mean… We’d rather explore the texture or do something more abstract than worry about a guitar solo or a beautiful musical passage or anything like that, really.

I think even your more pop-oriented works have that sense of experimentation and abstraction. Even “I Melt With You” or “Chapter 12” have some really interesting counter melodies and production techniques that elevate those tracks. That’s something I’ve always loved about your body of work – that you’ve never lost sight of that knack for experimentation, even on Soundtrack and Take Me to the Trees, and of course, the latest record. 

Yeah, that’s just how we operate overall, you know?

So, I still think it’s kind of wild that one of 4AD’s most beloved projects was birthed from covering two of your tracks – the live medley of “16 Days” and “Gathering Dust.” I love that you were all involved with This Mortal Coil in one form or another. Can you tell us more about your experience with that project? 

Well, really Ivo just felt that those two songs were such classic tracks and he wanted to re-record them the way we were playing them live. It was around that time that more electronic drum kits and samplers were being utilized a bit more. Ivo asked Mick and Gary to play on the This Mortal Coil version. They agreed and then Robin from Cocteau Twins and Martyn from Colourbox played on it. Liz came and did the vocals with Cindy, and the rest was history. I did that Colin Newman song “Not Me” on the first album, It’ll End In Tears. It was just Ivo’s hand’s-on project where he wanted to really celebrate everyone’s music and have his own project. He would get anyone he fancied to come in and play, whether it be us or Cindytalk, or Simon Raymonde, really, whoever was around at the time…

After the Snow really felt like more of a romantic record, though you still retained some that core energy in songs like “Life in the Gladhouse.” I’d love to hear more about that record. Was it a conscious decision to explore a more lush sound, or did that come naturally as well? 

Well, I mean, we’ve never been the sort of band that do the same exact thing twice. That’s been a bit of our downfall in some ways because we’ve confused a lot of people that way. A lot of other acts are happy to do the same thing, but we’ve never really been like that.

With After the Snow – a lot of that sound you mention is due to our producer, Hugh Jones, who encouraged us to focus more on our songwriting. We didn’t even know what that meant at that point, you know? He showed us how to string together a verse and a chorus and then a verse and a chorus and then a middle eight, and those things. His influence was massive! We were all interested in bringing in different instruments to change things – acoustic guitars, violins, and so on. We also tried different things. For instance, “I Melt With You” is probably the first song I never shouted on. I was so used to shouting into the microphone before that…

Did you approach that song from that perspective at first? Did you shout on earlier incarnations of the track? 

No! This, this is a good story actually. I was told to go up to the microphone and just speak into it…and I was like, “what? What the fuck are you talking about? You want me to go up to the microphone and just SPEAK into it?” But that really helped the song, it helped change it up to give it that sort of spoken word sort of feel in the verses, and that makes the chorus work so well.

…and then somehow between trying to softly speak the verses and then adding this lush, soaring chorus, you created one of the most beautiful, perfect pop songs ever recorded. Does it ever shock you how much that song has meant to people over the years? I mean, it’s truly timeless in that way. I almost hate to admit it, but in a previous life, that song was my wedding song, and it’s always funny, since the lyrics are both romantic but also about nuclear fallout and war, and a similar sense of dread that has always been present in your work. 

You know, you’d be amazed at how many times I’ve been told that! There’s definitely that idea of a couple you know, during the Cold War era. When I wrote it, I was staying in a cheap housing complex in London, freezing my arse off, stoned and scribbling down lyrics on a piece of paper, and within ten minutes, the lyrics were finished. It was like poetry really, I used stanzas, and of course, it’s basically about love. I was writing about the bomb dropping while this couple were making love, melting together… I’ve always said that it was a dark love song.

Otherwise, in some ways, it’s just another song for us on the album, you know? At one point we were wondering if we even liked it, or if it was a bit too commercial sounding compared to our other work.

I wondered if you struggled with that in the moment, especially when comparing it to songs like “Swans on Glass” or “Move In Light” which were written not long before that by comparison, you know?

Yeah, we did for about ten minutes, but Hugh was like “don’t be ridiculous – this a good song” you know, blah blah blah. In fact, going full circle, “I Know Your Soul” on the new album is a bit like that. We weren’t sure whether we’re going to put that song on the album, you know, because it’s the most crafted really of all the songs on the out on 1, 2, 3, 4, but Steve Walker, the keyboard player, was a big champion for that for that song. Mick, Gary, and I weren’t too sure about it, but we put it on there…

Did you leave anything on the cutting room floor? Are there any leftover tracks from the latest sessions?

No, no, pretty much everything’s on there!

So, one thing I’ve always admired about Modern English these days is that you always seem to have your finger on the pulse and have taken a lot of newer, underground bands on tour with you, bands like Entertainment or Bootblacks. A lot of older bands don’t seem to be as in tune with what’s going on in modern music and I was wondering what informed that. 

Well, I think we just, that’s just how we are. We’re no different when we started as people, making the kind of music that we want to and seeking out bands that are similar. It’s no different for us now than it was in 1979, except that we were lucky enough that “I Melt With You” gave us the security to carry on however we want to. Mick and Steve are more in tune with music than I am even, and they find that same energy in these bands that we feel we have.

As for me, I’d say I listen to more English music than anything these days, whether it be Fontaines D.C. or Idles. However, Mick would find these new, still obscure bands from Brooklyn and Steve would find some from Poland. We’re always looking for bands that are younger to come on the road with us mostly because we’d have wanted the same thing when we were younger, you know?

That’s great that you do that – I’ve heard so many conflicting stories over the years, some bands have shared stories of scene camaraderie, but others have told me that it was actually more competitive and cutthroat, not as romantic as all that. It’s interesting to hear your perspective on that and to see you lifting up other bands these days. 

It’s really true, though. People in America romanticize about this scene with all these bands hanging out in the pub, but it wasn’t really like that. Everyone was just doing their own thing. You might bump into somebody in the studio somewhere and have a moment with them, but you’re too busy doing your own thing to hang out really. That said, we did tour with Cocteau Twins and Bauhaus, and support Matt Johnson of The The when he started out – 4AD felt more like a family-oriented thing. Outside of that, it was often about getting a drink at the bar, you know?

What are your touring plans for 1, 2, 3, 4? What do you have planned for the year?

Oh my god, we’re not stopping this year! I mean, once I leave Thailand, I’m flying to Mexico City for rehearsals and a show. We’re playing with The Buzzcocks there. After that, we’re going back to America to play in Tucson and LA, two sold out shows with The Buzzcocks again. We’re going to go to Disneyland as well, but then we fly back to England. We’re doing a radio show for the BBC before linking back up with The Buzzcocks again for a few dates in Europe, plus a few on our own.

After all that, we’re going back to America as part of the Totally Tubular festival with Thomas Dolby, The Romantics, and other bands like that. We’re doing a six week run as part of that tour.

I’ve always enjoyed those tours, it seems like they aim to recapture a certain era, but for me, being too young to have seen many of these artists in the eighties, I always have a great time basking in that energy. It’s always great to see your band, whether it be a full headlining set or part of these tours. How long will the set be in the States? 

It’ll be about 25-30 min.

So you really have to carefully pick and choose, then! I imagine you’ll have to balance the new material, some early deep cuts, but I’m sure you have to play the hits, right? 

Well, you know, if we didn’t, we’d probably be hung! You know, it’ll be “I Melt With You” plus five or so other tracks.

I was sad to miss the After the Snow tour. Do you think you’d come back around to the States for a full tour for the new record? It’s always great hearing a full set, being able to enjoy the range and intensity of your material…

Oh yeah, whenever we get the chance, we’ll be playing. For some of these shows, we’re planning on playing three or four tracks from the album. I imagine even on this tour in the States we’ll throw one or two of them in.

Well, I’m a fan of the whole catalogue and anything you play at this point would go over well in my book. Have you found that other fans have been embracing the new material in the same way? 

Yeah, absolutely. It’s been incredible! I get stuff sent to me, you know – press clippings and reviews. It’s been brilliant, the response has been absolutely amazing. It might be the best critical response we’ve ever had if I’m being honest! §

1, 2,3, 4 is out now via InKind Music and available via the band’s Bandcamp page, as well as other outlets. For a full list of tour dates, visit the band’s website here.

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Header photo by Sheva Kafai.

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However, 2023 saw a flurry of new activity from Cranes, straight from the source. Firstly, the band released a string of radio sessions recorded for the late, great John Peel in 1989 and 1990, many of which had never been circulated previously. Additionally, the band announced two shows, one in hometown Portsmouth and the other in the heart of London, both of which sold out immediately. Both shows were meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1993’s Forever, one of the band’s most beloved recordings that also earned them a slot opening for The Cure’s celebrated Wish tour, which alongside a single remix of “Jewel” remixed by Robert Smith himself, helped usher in a new legion of fans. These new gigs reunited the Shaws with original guitarist Mark Francombe as well as Paul Smith, who began recording with the band with 2001’s Future Songs album. These shows were special occasions through and through, with fans (including myself) traveling far and wide to attend. While the band was originally unsure what would be in store next, they seem to have rekindled the spark and reclaimed their stake in today’s robust scene. More live dates have been booked for 2024 in Leeds, London, Brussels, and Rotterdam, and a new reissue has been announced – this time unearthing Fuse, the band’s very first release and one of their deepest obscurities. Originally released on cassette in 1986 via Bite Back!, Fuse has been lovingly remastered at Abbey Road and will be reissued via the band’s own Dadaphonic imprint on April 5th of this year. Like the Peel Sessions release prior, this new edition of Fuse features artwork by Chris Bigg of V23, who originally helped design much of 4AD’s classic artwork over the years. To sweeten the pot, this beautiful new edition features “New Liberty,” a song recorded during these early sessions that has not been heard until now.

We had the immense pleasure of speaking to vocalist, guitarist, and bassist Alison Shaw about all of this activity. Check below for our conversation, as well as a full list of upcoming tour dates and Fuse reissue details…

~~~

Firstly, I just have to say it: WELCOME BACK! It’s really great that all these new gigs are popping up on the horizon. After years of radio silence, it really was so exciting to see this flurry of activity. What, what was the catalyst for getting back together? What got you thinking about it and what’s been fueling the fire so far? 

I guess it was the end of 2022 when, quite by chance, Jim and Matt (Cope) met up. Around the same time, Jason, who was our manager throughout the Dadaphonic years also got back in touch and told us that if there was any chance that we wanted to do something again, he’d help us. For the last ten years, it was the last thing on our minds, you know? We were all just doing other things in our lives. Somehow, things just fell into place. We all thought that we wanted to take it slowly, to see what happens. When we announced that first London show, we actually weren’t quite ready in our minds. We weren’t sure if we were able to do it, or if we really wanted to do it. But it went on sale and it sold out really quickly in a day and a half, and so we were like “oh my God, we’ve got to do it, we’re committed now.” It really was a good experience though. You were at the show, right? The audience was amazing! For us, it was a very happy show and it made us think that we might quite like to do some other shows.

Yeah, EartH is such a gorgeous venue and there was so much great energy in the room. It was a perfect fit! 

Yeah, exactly I think that was kind of a special evening for us all.

There aren’t a lot of bands out there like Cranes, so it’s great that you’re back in that sense. There was a big gap left in the scene when you left…

Yeah, our last record was in 2008. And I think our last gig was about 2012 or 13. So there’s been a long gap!

It seems like you just went dormant and life carried on for you all. Had people been asking for shows or for new material over the last decade? 

Well, when we went dormant, I also wasn’t connected to any social media at all for about ten years. I just couldn’t deal with it for one reason or another. I was vaguely aware that somebody out there was reissuing our records. It was the Music on Vinyl company in Holland, they’ve become good friends now and they’re really big fans of the band. They’ve reissued all our albums and they make really lovely vinyl editions. At the time though, I was only vaguely aware of this, but now I’ve kind of clipped my brain back into being doing Cranes stuff. We’re much more in touch with everything.

It’s been brilliant being back in touch with Mark (Francombe) again, because he was, as you know, he’s the original guitarist from the late 80s and early 90s. He’s been living a totally different life these days, because he lives in Oslo, in Norway. We’ve remained friends over all of these years, only seeing each other maybe once a year or something. But now we’re in contact every day, on the phone, or messaging or talking. He’s a very creative person and he helps with all the social media stuff.

So really, it’s weird. We’re just slowly motioning back into being a band again after such a long break, taking it at our own pace.

That’s great! And it’s great that Mark is so invested and so involved as well. So, these next batch of shows in the Spring, can you tell us a bit about those? 

Actually, we just announced another one in Brussels! It’s part of a really lovely festival called Botanique. We just announced we’re going to play there on April the 30th. There’s been a good response already for that one!

Will these upcoming shows still be part of the Forever anniversary celebration, or will you be doing a more varied set? 

To be honest, we haven’t decided yet! I think we might do more of a kind of a mixture, maybe a few songs from the Loved album, but we’re not quite sure yet.

Right, and Mark played on Loved as well, yes? That first era of the band with Mark and Matt on guitar and Jim on drums had quite a groove going throughout the nineties. But then you changed lineups and your sound evolved from there…

Yeah, Mark actually first played with us in 1988, I think. And then he left in 1997/1998, soon after the Population Four album. We did a long American tour for almost every album we did up until that point, but I think the last time we were there was for Future Songs in 2002.

Yeah, I was supposed to go to the NYC show back then, but I was nineteen at the time and couldn’t get in, sadly… I should have snuck in! So, I’d love to talk about the upcoming Fuse reissue. I was curious to hear about any great stories from the era. I’ve read a lot about the early days, recording in your garage and how Martin Hannett was one of the first people to have heard the Fuse recordings. It seemed like things really ramped up quickly for the band from there… 

Well, the Martin Hannett thing, that was kind of an isolated incident, because Fuse was only a cassette. It was the first thing that we released. Jim and I spent months working on it, literally day and night. We used to do it in shifts, and I would work in most of the daytime, and he would work most of the night. We were still developing our sound at that stage and we weren’t quite sure what we were doing! We were kind of experimenting and trying to find our own path. We did what we could given the time constraints. We weren’t sure, to be honest, if it was any good. We’d never released anything, we’d never had a review or anything like that. For some reason, we also decided that we didn’t want to send the cassette out to anyone. But Ian Binnington from Bite Back! heard that Martin Hannett was looking for unsigned bands, because there was potentially going to be a new TV show up in Manchester. So Ian sent him a tape with a lot of local Portsmouth bands on it. When he called Martin back a few weeks later, Martin wasn’t sure who he was, or who any of the bands were, but then he remembered our song from that demo tape. We were very, very honored.

Yeah, you never know who hears things or how music travels around, especially in the cassette culture days…It’s amazing you got that kind of feedback early on.

Yeah, after that we kind of went back to the drawing board for a couple of years. We weren’t playing live at that stage, it was just me and Jim in my dad’s garage that we turned into a little tiny studio with the drum kit and everything in there. It took us a good two or two-and-a-half years to come up with the Self Non Self material which, at the time, we felt was more our identity, our real identity if you know what I mean.

I tell you what, literally dozens of people have asked us to reissue the Fuse tape, and we’ve always said no because we just thought that it was just our very early thing – that it was just a tape and we were happy to let it stay that way. It’s taken us decades to consider it, and it was really because of Jason (White), who is also the manager at 4AD. He’s so in tune with music and has very good instincts. He said “listen to it again Ali, would you just listen to it again for me?”

Do you often listen back to your music, or? 

Not often, no. But I listened to it with fresh ears and I could see what he was talking about. It was so early for us, listening to it now I’m kind of taken back – how did we produce those sounds with such basic equipment!?

Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to ask you next! How DID you produce those sounds with just the bare bones guitar and drums setup that you had back then? There was a lot of sonic experimentation taking place in those early days. 

Yeah! Well one of the key things that we were we were using very early on was a tiny sampler pedal, which was a similar size and shape as a distortion pedal. It was one of the very first sampling instruments that you could buy that didn’t cost a zillion pounds, you know? Jim used that for some of the drum sounds and we also used it on the voice as a delay and echo thing. Other than that, it was just guitars and the way we played. Jim always dreamt that his first instrument would be the drums, but he also plays guitars and bass and cello and keyboards, and, you know, whatever else. He’s kind of a multi instrumentalist, I guess.

Great to have that in your back pocket!

Yeah that definitely helps! So, I think everything we’ve ever done emerges quite naturally. We just make sounds and then see if it elicits a response in either Jim or me. The things that we both instantly connect to – that’s what ends up being a Cranes song. If one or the other of us doesn’t get it, then it gets left behind.

So I guess that leaves it pretty wide open to create whatever feels right and whatever comes to mind. I can’t imagine the two of you back in the day carefully selecting and mimicking records over the years, trying to carve out your sound that way, as some bands do. It sounds like this has always been a very organic process for you.

Yeah. It was quite important for us not to sound like anyone else directly. We used to edit ourselves. Jim’s kind of obsessed with the idea – if anything sounds remotely like someone else he’ll get rid of it. We were fans of other people’s music at the time of course, but it was a key thing in Cranes, to choose our own path…

Well, that’s certainly what’s always appealed to me about your music – that you’ve done your own thing. There are definitely bands that you’re peers with, like Slowdive, who you played live with in the early nineties, or Chapterhouse, who you were label mates with. But really, when I got into the band in the late nineties – I had never heard anything like your music. It was so singular, so different, so eclectic, and I haven’t heard all that much out there that I feel the same way about. I’ve always appreciated that. With that in mind, from the early days of being in the garage to the electronic material you’d produce in the 2000s, how did your writing process evolve over the years?

Well, I guess there were two big musical shifts for us. The first shift was, when we first signed to Dedicated. We were able to buy some new equipment, and we bought keyboards, which Jim had always wanted. Up until that point, we’d never had a keyboard that could make string sounds and orchestral sounds and piano sounds. So that was a big shift for us. On Fuse and Self Non Self, there were no keyboards. Wings of Joy, Forever, and Loved were all recorded in the same studio in London, called Protocol Studios. It was the same studio where everyone at the time recorded, including The Sundays, or My Bloody Valentine, who were recording Loveless at the time. So many bands who were recording in the early nineties recorded there, and that place felt like our home, just off Holloway Road in North London.

The more electronic stuff that you you mentioned, that was our third phase, after the year 2000. The old version of Cranes had finished – we ceased to be around 1998. Mark left in 1997 and got married after we did that last tour in America, and we pretty much stopped for a good three years. We weren’t sure what we were going to do or if we were going to record again. But then Jim and I just got together, I guess because we’re brother and sister, it’s hard to split up completely…  I had been living in London at that time and during that break at the at the end of the 90s, I’d been doing some other stuff. I had a couple of ideas for some songs and I came back down to Portsmouth one day, and Jim had couple of ideas for some songs. We basically just started to write and we felt that there was the basis for some new material, and that’s when Future Songs started to come together.

I recall that you considered changing the name of the band, but at heart, it was still just you and Jim, so it still felt right to be a Cranes record. Is that the case?

Yeah, that’s kind of right. They are quite two sort of distinct phases of the band, I guess. But it’s still Jim and I at the center of it.

I mean, it’s not like the electronic material came out of the blue – there were hints of that direction on Population Four, La Tragedie D’Oreste et Electre, and a lot of the EP material from that era. Some more delicate moments, electronic touches, and so on. So while the early, chaotic nature of the band wasn’t present on Future Songs, it wasn’t a total 180, in my opinion, minus the lineup change. So now that the original catalogue has been reissued, is there any talk of reissuing the most recent trio of records, the ones on Dadaphonic? 

Well, we haven’t started on that project yet. But people are asking, you know, especially because those records weren’t originally released on vinyl. It’s a bit early for us at the moment, but it’s definitely possible!

Going back to the gigs you’ve been playing – once you were committed to doing the shows and were back in the rehearsal room, was the focus really just on the older material? Did you happen to do any writing, whether it was accidental or intentional? 

To be honest, it was a lot of the focus was on the Forever songs, because quite early on, people asking if we were going to play the entire album. There are several songs on the album which we’d never played live before..

Yeah! I remember you mentioned at the EartH show that one of the songs had never been performed before, though I can’t remember which it was…

It was “Sun and Sky” – I don’t think we’d ever played it before and I’m not sure why we hadn’t… It’s not a difficult bass line, but I guess because I’m playing it and singing at the same time, I guess we just didn’t have enough time back in the day to rehearse it properly. But this time, I had months to practice it, so I did, and it eventually came together. I think when we first met up to rehearse after not having played together with this lineup for thirty years, our first song was “EG Shining.” And you know, it sounded the same as it always did all those years ago, which was kind of nice.

That’s one of the first tracks Mark had played on, right? 

Yeah, and it was it was one of the first songs we ever wrote, to be honest. Even though it didn’t come out until we were signed, we did it early on at a Peel Session. It was written a couple of years before we recorded it and released it on the Espero EP. It was an original Cranes song, that was one our earliest moments together.

It was great hearing such an intense response to songs like that, as well as “Inescapable” and “Starblood” when you played them. Do you still feel a connection to that material, or was it just something from the past that you exhumed for these shows? How does it feel to play those songs again?

So, that’s the weird thing, if you’d asked me a year or two ago, I’m not sure if I could have played those songs or if it would feel right at this point in my life. That said, there’s something that happens when Jim’s on the drums. One of those key moments in our past was when Jim decided he didn’t want to play drums live at that stage, so he changed to guitar. We had two or three different drummers in the years from 2000-2008. They were all great drummers, but the drumming style of those later albums were different, and of course these drummers used more electronic drum kits and pads and things like that where you can have more control and make more interesting electronic sounds. The earlier tracks were all oriented around Jim’s drum sound. For me, playing these early tracks needed to have Jim Shaw on the drums in order to feel right. That’s what made authentic and believable for me – Jim on drums and Mark on guitar, with Matt joining us for early rehearsals. It really made me connect to the material again. Something was there that I can’t quite describe but makes the songs come alive again.

I hate to jump the gun or anything, but do you think you’ll do any writing together – or are you still taking it one day at a time?

Well, you never know, you never know… There’s some writing going on but I can’t really elaborate! *chuckles*

Well, since we’re hinting at some vague things here – what’s the scoop on returning to America? Is that something we can look forward to in the coming years?

Ahh, well, I can’t say much at the moment, but I’ll give you a hint. Just recently we have been offered something in America and it’s looking very positive…

Well, I accept that you can’t tell us more, but that’s very promising news! We’ll stay tuned for some more details on that, if and when the time is right! So, here’s a more open ended question – do you have a favorite moment throughout all the years you’ve been together as a band? 

Favorite moment? Well, I mean obviously the tour with The Cure was completely awesome for us. I remember especially on the American leg of that tour, I remember just being happy every day, like every moment of every day, driving from city to city and playing these incredible arenas and auditoriums and stadiums, even…

How did that come about – how were you first approached by the band?

Apparently, Robert, and Simon had heard the Wings of Joy album, and they liked it. We had an agent at the time, and I think that’s how they approached us. We met them around that time, they did a few warm up shows before the tour, playing in much smaller venues in the UK. They played in our local town hall, which is called the Guild Hall in Portsmouth. We were invited to the show, and that’s where we met the band and that’s when they invited us on the tour.

Well, it was a perfect match, and obviously they’ve invited you back regularly since then, for the Trilogy shows and some other one-offs over the years. It seems like the door is always open!

Well, they’ve been so amazing to us over the years. Every few years we’ll get a call. I’ve chatted to Robert a few times recently, over email, and he’s really supportive of what we’re doing now. They’ll always be a really important part of our journey.

I’m so glad it’s still be so positive over the years. It seems like it’s a lifelong friendship with the two of you, and some of the other bands they’ve been friends with over the years, like And Also the Trees… 

Yeah, he’s pretty amazing…as you might imagine.

So what else are you planning with the back catalogue at the moment? It was great to see you bring the Dadaphonic brand back into the mix…

Yeah, the Peel Sessions release that came out last year was also under Dadaphonic, and Fuse is going to be on vinyl and CD as well. We weren’t sure if people would want a CD, but people are still requesting it. We won’t do a huge amount of them, but it’s there if people want it.

Yeah, people come back around again when it comes to physical media. I mean, after growing up in the CD era, I’ve switched fully to vinyl and digital. I don’t miss having to pack and carry a CD wallet to take things with you, and really like having a lot of music at your fingertips these days, through all kinds of mediums and services. It’s great to see the back catalogue has been well cared for after all these years… How has streaming treated you? 

I think most of our catalogue is now streaming, which helps for people who haven’t discovered us or heard most of what we’ve recorded, even some of the more rare things like La Tragedie… For many years, we didn’t think anyone would be interested in all that stuff. But Jason’s really helped us to find that focus again.

What about the Inrain single you did with Rudy of A.R. Kane? Is that something people still ask about? 

Yeah, and actually, Rudy and I have stayed in touch over the years. Every few months we get together on the phone. We’ve had several people offer to reissue it for us, and I suppose we’re just waiting for the right moment there as well. He just did a really great A.R. Kane reissue box set and has a few other projects in the works, so perhaps we’ll see an Inrain reissue in the near future!

I love seeing bands reactivate on social media, to come out of a long slumber and just poke their heads out on social media, like you or A.R. Kane and maybe even Catherine Wheel are doing at the moment. As a fan, I always get extremely, almost scarily excited when this happens. I feel like Cranes were one of the last bands from my youth that I never had the chance to see over the years, and I’m glad you’re back. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say, and with so many bands reforming and having a second victory lap, so to speak. I hope it’s been great experience for you. 

Yeah, it certainly has. We’re taking it slowly but we’re really, really happy that people seem to be receiving the idea of us in a such a good way. We’ve always been flattered when people ask after all these years, but it never was the right moment until now. But really, we’re glad to be here! §

Cranes – Fuse LP/CD
1. Pillow Panther
2. Fuse
3. Valentine
4. Gas-Ring
5. Things That I Like
6. Wrench
7. Fracture
8. New Liberty (previously unreleased)

Order via Bandcamp (UK and US) and via Linktree

Cranes 2024 tour dates: 

• Tue April 30th – Brussels – Orangerie (Boutanique Festival)
• Thu May 2nd – Rotterdam – Maassilo
• Thu May 9th – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
• Sat May 11th – London – Islington Assembly Hall

Header photo by Phil Nicholls

The post Hopes Are High | A Conversation With Alison Shaw of Cranes appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Today, Psychic Graveyard announces a brand new LP entitled Wilting (due June 7) and shares its first single, “Your Smile is a Hoax.” 

The band found inspiration in a Butthole Surfers riff and took it from there, complete with a fuzzed-out bass guitar.

“Over the years, we’ve realized that our songs are birthed in pairs,” reflects the band. “Your Smile is a Hoax is the sister to another Psychic Graveyard track off this upcoming album called Haunted By Your Bloodline. Both feature the use of two low-register instruments playing off of each other, with a higher synth note popping obnoxiously out of the mix. We feel as though it helps keep the chaos grounded. Those higher swirl elements come from a forgotten field recording of an ambulance passing by Nate’s house in San Diego. Lyrically, it fills in the listener on some of our experiences as an afflicted band in today’s world, traveling all over the place while we’re wounded, but somehow having a blast while we’re out there—bleeding everywhere.”

The video is a strange animation reminiscent of R. Crumb and 60s concert posters, sure to lull those into an altered state.

With a manic output of four full-length albums—Loud As Laughter, A Bluebird Vacation, Veins Feel Strange, and Wilting–in nearly as many years, this creative juggernaut is just getting started. Post-Punk.com had a few questions for Psychic Graveyard regarding the new single out now via Artoffact Records:

You said “higher swirl elements” in “Your Smile is a Hoax” come from a recording of an ambulance in San Diego. Are there lots of sounds in life that make it into your music, and do you think the geography of where you write and record affects what you’re making?

Quite a few field recordings make it onto our releases.  We compose music by recording things and then chopping them up and reassembling them. Sometimes it’s just a click or a pop from someone moving the recorder.  We find  “life” sounds add a human feel to our digital workflow. We live very far away from each other and rely on technology to communicate our ideas. With that. YES! Where we are, definitely affects the outcome of what we’re making.  Not because of the environment. It’s because we can communicate in real time. On the rare occasions that we are in the same room working on ideas, we notice they have an audible difference to our ears.  Not to mention it speeds up the workflow tenfold.  The foundational sounds we create in different locations stay pretty consistent. No matter where we are. No matter what environment.

How does “Your Smile is a Hoax” compare to the rest of the sound we can expect from the album?

Don’t trust it! HA! Most of our albums have phases. WILTING is no different. There’s a gamut of emotions it passes through and circles back again. We even went in directions none of us had ever gone in before. We were terrified while making it. But I love every moment of the finished version. We hope some others will dig it too!

You said the main impetus for creating this song was the craving for a fuzzed-out bass guitar. Which usually comes first for you- music or lyrics?

For Psychic Graveyard,  it’s always a very loose musical idea. Someone has a sound they’ve made.  Let’s see if we can make this resemble a song.  If we can, we move on to vocals and lyrics.

While creating their latest LP, Wilting, Psychic Graveyard traversed the distances between Providence and San Diego, and now they beckon listeners to look beyond their impressive backgrounds and dive into the vibrant, uneasy dreamscapes they conjure. Mark your calendars: “Wilting” is set to unfold its enigmatic layers on June 7, 2024.

Wilting – TRACKLISTING

1. Your Smile is a Hoax
2. Eyes Are Turning
3. Stuffed With Secrets
4. Sword Through My Neck
5. Lives The Size of An Eyelash
6. Broke All Their Ladders
7. Haunted By Your Bloodline
8. Scar in the Shape of the United States
9. Handcrafts Our Happiness
10. Bellow’s Funeral Home

Follow Psychic Graveyard:

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• Facebook
• Bandcamp
• Spotify
• Apple Music

The post Psychic Graveyard Tend To Their Core Wounds With “Your Smile is a Hoax” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

All this hell for a sliver of hard-earned heaven? Vanderwolf thinks – nay, knows so. The artist, who wound his way from NYC to LA, unveils a futuristic folk treatise on trials of work: The 6.09, the latest single from his upcoming album The Great Bewilderment, set for release on March 13th.

In The 6.09, Vanderwolf’s vocals take flight, weaving through acoustic verses to deliver a poignant critique of contemporary society, all within the framework of a psychedelic-folk-rock ballad. Vanderwolf finds keen allies in Billy Bragg, Heaven 17, Anne Clark and Midnight Oil in sentiment, but their earnest neofolk sound hearkens back all the way to Phil Ochs and Led Zeppelin.

Accompanying the song is a music video crafted by Alden Volney, featuring a sequence of animations that embark on a dark and twisted journey. It is wryly dark, with imagery of a head trapped in a rotating box, MC Escher-esque loops, and the false cheeriness of social media trying to sell your own dopamine back to you. Strangely satisfying, indeed.

Watch the video for “The 6.09” below:

“The Great Bewilderment is a complexly layered reflection of my recent years courting chaos and rootlessness, arriving, leaving, settling and unsettling,” says Vanderwolf. “It’s a collection of interweaving hellos and goodbyes. It’s about leaving certain things behind and, conversely, claiming those things that can be known in the here and now. It’s about coming to terms with a sense of place — after a long period of exile and some self-imposed restlessness. Finally, it is about what can be known. And what can be appreciated as truly valuable in this world despite the bewildering context of war and mass extinction.”

Vanderwolf’s acclaimed 2021 solo debut, 12 Little Killers, saw the native New Yorker roam around garage rock, glam, Americana, psych and blues with the vocals willfully varied. Here, his scope is generally more epic. Vanderwolf remains an explorer, but The Great Bewilderment finds him more focused, despite his wide-ranging vision. While the former album was written and recorded during Vanderwolf’s final years in London following the break-up of his former band Last Man Standing, The Great Bewilderment’s eight songs were mostly written or recorded during the pandemic.

“12 Little Killers grew out of restlessness, personal mistakes and chaos, much of which continued into the pandemic: I lost a friend and mentor in (record producer) Hal Willner, my father died and I never lived anywhere for more than a few months.’’

Parallel to his work as a musician, Vanderwolf has enjoyed a hugely successful career as a music programmer and concert producer: for 9 years he produced the Meltdown Festival.

Facing another New York winter where infection rates were rising, the promise of LA was irresistible. ‘’When I came out to LA and began rehearsing and recording, much of that chaos subsided. LA allows you to enjoy the illusion of paradise. And in the height of the pandemic — that illusion was nurturing.’’

With a fresh batch of songs ready to be rehearsed, Vanderwolf worked with drummer Angie Scarpa, guitarist Dusty Meadows, and bassist H Chris Roy.

Pre-save The Great Bewilderment LP, out 13 March, here.

Post-Punk.com had a few questions to ask of Vanderwolf, who talked about his nomadic past, the music video, and hopes for the album.

1. You’ve spent much of your life in London and New York, however, this record was made primarily in Los Angeles. Did recording in a new location change your approach, or influence the record’s sound in any way?
 
Yes – it undoubtedly influenced the record in ways that are often quite mysterious — and that’s part of the inexplicable and elusive magic of  LA or California — and definitely, of Laurel Canyon.

But there were also some impactful elements that can be explained. I moved to LA during the pandemic — after NYC became an increasingly unattractive scenario. So in some ways I was seeking  refuge. These were tender times for everyone. Just gathering with friends required caution. Gathering friends to make music was practically a political act. It both engaged in and defied some pandemic protocol. Our earliest rehearsals had to be outside. I was living in this weird empty house at the very top of Laurel Canyon in a development called Mount Olympus. It has its own microclimate. The owner of the house was one of the Shah’s of the Sunset Strip Tv show and he’d stash all his equipment and outdoor furniture at this location. Nothing worked. It was a mess. But it was on top of a mountain with incredibly expansive views of LA out to the ocean. There was a feeling of space. A feeling of vast possibilities. And there was time. We didnt rush this music. We allowed the arrangement to breathe. We tried out many ideas, made modifications, tried again, wrote new bits, jammed…and this approach carried  into the studio sessions which were in Silver Lake about a year later. Most of what you hear was recorded live.

2. The music video for “The 6.09” sees a collection of repetitive, “satisfying”animations eventually turn dark and twisted. Where did the idea for the video come from, and what was the process of creating it like?

This was my 4th video with Alden Volney and he’s really a kind of genius. I knew I didnt want an illustration of the songs’ lyrics. They tell certain story that I think is quite complete and self-contained. The question was, what can we bring to this story or what kind of different story can we overlay on it. I really had my doubts when he told me his idea. But he really hates those ”relaxation video” — and I could see why they were disturbing to him. And if we could show the complacency they inspire– as a kind of  drug– I thought we might have something. So I really let him get on with the work. The only thing I asked him to do was add more emphasis to the dark and twisted section of the song….it needed to be darker and more twisted.
 
3. What do you hope your audience takes away from your upcoming record, The Great Bewilderment?

There’s a long list of possible  take-aways. First of all its 45-minutes of music so what I primarily hope is that people will listen to it as an album. I know that’s a rare thing these days. People will watch their favorite  Netflix series for 115 hours of their lives But these days music doesn’t seem to garner an audience’s attention for long. The album doesnt sit in any genre-specific territory so it’s best heard as a composite…and as a journey..or an epic film. As far as themes, there’s a lot to take away…themes of complacency, confusion, bewilderment all contributing to a kind of  paralysis. The song, Gaza, arguably the centerpiece of the album, was written long before the middle-east conflict erupted into this disgusting war. It depicts an inability to connect with political struggles and failures of public policy that lead to the kind of  wars we see now. Back when I wrote it, most people couldn’t find  Gaza on a map. The many years of neglect and our inability to recognise the plight of Gaza was so clearly going to be complicit in the explosion of this current conflict. And this is true for countless other places in the world also suffering from this same kind of  neglect. The song could have easily been titled, Haiti, or the Democratic Republic of  Congo. So maybe there is an opportunity for people to address their own sense of  bewilderment about the world. Other than that,  there’s a lot of  love and loss on this record. Who can’t relate to that?

The Great Bewilderment will be available via all DSPs on March 13th.

Follow Vanderwolf:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Bandcamp
• YouTube

The post Vanderwolf Debuts Surreal Video for Psychedelic Ballad “The 6.09” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Discussing the track’s meaning and origins, Moothart said, “I first started writing Little Egg shortly after the 2016 US presidential election. With the growing representation of ‘strong man’ authoritarian leadership around the globe, I felt a combination of disgust and amusement about how fragile and small these people really are. So this song is a commentary on the direction of the world, misplaced trust, manipulative authority figures, and the danger of giving thugs the keys to the castle. The opening line paints a scene out of an old school gangster film. You have the future running to the past to warn of the coming destruction of natural resources, and you have money gunning at its back to stop the message from being delivered. And the money is the one ashing its cigar out of the Cadillac on this con job stakeout. “

Check out “Little Egg” below:

Announced at the beginning of December, Moothart’s upcoming LP Black Holes Don’t Choke comes out March 8th 2024 via In The Red Records. The production of Black Holes Don’t Choke marks yet another chapter in Charles Moothart’s artistic evolution. Driven by an ardent affection for classic hip-hop and a profound aspiration to enrich his creative lexicon, Moothart has dedicated recent years to delving into the intricate realms of sampling and sequencing. In tandem with this exploration, he has been meticulously refining his engineering and mixing skills through personal endeavors and fruitful collaborations with fellow artists in various studios. This amalgamation of elements has sculpted a fresh, transformative milieu, wherein Moothart’s songwriting finds the fertile ground to flourish anew.

Black Holes Don’t Choke embraces the elements and sounds of the present without glamorizing any tense – past, present, or future. It conveys a feeling of chaotic love and empowerment within a time of existential turmoil – aiming to lift up what positives exist in a world riddled with toxicity and complexity.

“Little Egg” sees you go acoustic, albeit briefly, which is a bit unique for your catalogue. What led to that decision?

It’s true that only single acoustic and single vocal is a pretty rare production choice with my records to date. I have gotten more confident as a singer, and I have enjoyed hearing myself sing out front of my music much more than in the past. As far as Little Egg, it served the rest of the song, and also the message of the lyrics. It sets up a personal moment of reflection. It’s like a deep breath before the onslaught.

You spoke a little bit about how this song was influenced by the 2016 presidential election. Have you felt like the track’s meaning has evolved in the time since it was originally conceived?

Yes the meaning has evolved in some ways. I mean the basic principle and the basic fears expressed are still just as relevant today as they were all those years ago. So, in that way, it continued to feel more pertinent to record and release. But yeah I mean it went from being a vengeful song that was about destroying callous authoritarian figures, then it was kind of like a playful tune for a moment, but ultimately I wanted to really hone in on the foreboding danger of the steps we are taking. So it landed in a space both visceral and anthemic. It really took on the characteristics of the album’s spirit I am referring to as apocalyptic pop. It’s catchy but it’s raw. These aren’t passive songs about a completely fictional time and place. These are real feelings about the world I see outside my window, or the things I see as immediately possible (both positive and negative). I feel like the second verse really encapsulates the spectrum of these feelings.

You’re playing a host of tour dates coming up this spring—what can folks expect from a CharlesMoothartlive performance?

I am really excited about the live band right now. I have some great musicians playing with me who also happen to be my really good friends. The set is mostly comprised of songs off Black Holes Don’t Choke at the moment, but we are working to incorporate some other material from my other albums. There are spacious moments, as well as chaotic and more ripping moments. In this time of my creative life, I am trying to lean less on sheer power and chaos, but that is an innate part of my spirit when it comes to playing the guitar. So the energy of the band represents the recorded music in a different way that creates a dynamic live experience. I am really looking forward to see how we evolve over the course of these shows.

Preorder Black Holes Don’t Choke here”
In The Red | Levitation

Charles Moothart Tour Dates

• 03/15 – Pappy and Harriet’s – Pioneertown, CA (LP RELEASE SHOW)
• 04/18 – Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
• 04/20 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA
• 04/24 – Stork Club – Oakland, CA
• 04/26 – Star Theater – Portland, OR
• 04/27 – Make Shift Art Space – Bellingham, WA
• 04/29 – Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
• 05/1 – Starlet Room – Sacramento, CA
• 05/2 – Crepe Place – Santa Cruz, CA

Follow Charles Mootheart:

• Instagram

The post Charles Moothart Debuts “Little Egg” From Forthcoming Album “Black Holes Don’t Choke” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Confronted with a relentless stream of rejection, racism, and sexism from the industry’s gatekeepers, Luckey’s fortuitous encounter with an unsuspecting passenger seemed almost fated. Unbeknownst to her, this chance encounter would propel her from the anonymity of a New York City cab to the annals of cinematic history, cementing her story as a true exemplar of the Cinderella narrative — not spun from social media virality, but woven from the threads of real-life struggle and fated opportunity.

She played him her demo tape, to which he replied, “Oh my God, what is this and who are you?”

The passenger, as it turned out, was filmmaker Jonathan Demme, and the rest is history. Q’s deep androgynous contralto made appearances in subsequent films: “Candle Goes Away” in Something Wild, 1988’s Married To The Mob, and her cover of Talking Heads’ “Heaven” in 1993’s Philadelphia. But by far, she was best known for Silence of the Lambs, in the infamous, haunting scene where Buffalo Bill seduces himself in the mirror to her song “Goodbye Horses.” The juxtaposition of her rich, honeyed voice and the horrors of his sewing room burned in the minds of millions.

As “Goodbye Horses” climbed the charts, Diane Luckey intriguingly stepped back from the limelight. After a fruitful stint in the UK, touring with her band, penning a plethora of songs, and becoming the life of every party, Luckey returned to New York City, where she dabbled in the pulsating beats of house music. However, as the ’90s drew to a close, so did the musical chapter of Q Lazzarus.

Embarking on a markedly different journey, Luckey ventured into the depths of South America, immersing herself in a tapestry of cultures and experiences. This adventurous spirit later led her to the chilly Alaskan waters, where she spent six months aboard a fishing boat. These adventures, far from the spotlight of her musical past, painted a portrait of a woman on a quest for personal growth. Luckey exemplified a relentless pursuit of diverse and transformative adventures.

Psyche, MGMT, Bloc Party, and Deftones covered Goodbye Horses, which also took on new life with Gen Z in TikTok sounds, but as time went on, Luckey stayed behind the wheel. For many years, she worked as a bus driver in Staten Island, content to live a life of privacy. At the time of her death, however, it was revealed that Luckey had been working with filmmaker Eva Aridjis on a feature documentary about her life.

Aridjis has spent the past four years making Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives Of Q. Lazzarus, an intimate documentary about the long-lost Luckey. The two met in an unexpected way, embarking on a friendship and collaboration until Q’s tragic unexpected passing in 2022. Eva has launched a Kickstarter campaign to try to raise the funds to finish her documentary, which features Q’s life story told through Q’s own words and music, many of which has never been heard before.

The Kickstarter video features the only footage of Q to be released in the past 30 years.

There will be an official soundtrack of Q’s songs which feature in the film that will be released, but a record label for this has yet to be determined.

If you would like to help Eva Aridjis preserve the legacy of Q. Lazzarus, the link to the Kickstarter is here.

This Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing venture, so if you are a fan of – or curious about – Q. Lazzarus, and would like to see her take her rightful place in the annals of music history, now is your chance.

This year, Dark Entries Records is also set to release a reissue of Q Lazzarus’s music. The label from San Francisco expressed, “We’ve been working on a Q Lazzarus reissue since we started the label 15 years ago, and it will finally see the light of day this year.”

The post Kickstarter Campaign Launched for Q Lazzarus Documentary — Dark Entries Records to Reissue Music appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Melding a dash of 1960s psychedelia with elements plucked right from England’s ‘pleasant pastures green,’ the Abrasive Trees sound like stepping into the world of a pastoral poem, only to find that the lute player has been replaced by a reverb-mad electric guitarist. There’s a perfect synergy at work here: a veritable picnic where cucumber sandwiches meet psychedelic blacklight posters. In this musical alchemy, the ancient and modern not only coexist but dance together in harmonious step.

But that’s not all! The film also includes a live rendition of Kali Sends Sunflowers, interspersed with interview snippets guided by music journalist Andy Hill. And to add a cherry on top, visual artist Jess Wooller’s visuals are woven throughout, offering a glimpse into the band’s current artistic voyage. One can only imagine the delightful conversations and creative sparks that flew in that old mill, as Abrasive Trees set out to capture their musical exploits in a way that’s sure to be as refreshing as a brisk walk in the countryside.

“We’d aspired to create this film after meeting earlier this year to discuss what we could and couldn’t do – given our commitments to all of our other creative projects,” says Rochford. “We had considered going into a recording studio but decided to do something completely different and release some of our new material in this way. Somehow it all came together with the right people at the right time and the right place. We received financial and practical backing from the Abrasive Trees community – so it’s a genuinely crowdfunded project.”

Watch the “Mill Session” below:

In addition to being part of their local creative scene, Abrasive Trees have worked with members of Fields of The Nephilim, Rothko, Pulled By Magnets, and Jo Beth Young. Their last EP was produced by Lucy and Matthew Board from Pale Blue Eyes.

Follow Abrasive Trees:

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• Website

The post British Experimental Post-Punk Ensemble Abrasive Trees Debut Two New Songs Via “Mill Session” Film appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Estonian artist Kadri Sammel, the multi-faceted talent helping the darkwave project Bedless Bones, explores this concept with her new single, Solar Animus. In the realm of modern electronic music, Sammel stands as a striking and compelling figure, bringing her own distinct vision as well as enigmatic energy, weaving together elements from the shadowy realms of electro-noir genres.

Sammel’s artistry is evident in her new single, Solar Animus: she skillfully blends these genres with the kinetic energy of techno beats, the gritty textures of industrial music, and the haunting atmospheres that seem to transcend the ordinary. Solar Animus fuses contrasting elements, creating a realm where dark, mesmerizing melodies coexist with energetic, pulsating rhythms.

Bedless Bones’ latest album, Mire Of Mercury, is out now. Following Kadri Sammel’s signing with Metropolis Records in the summer of 2023, the album is a significant milestone that highlights her growing influence in the music world. It comes after the expanded re-release of their 2019 debut album, Sublime Malaise, which has garnered momentum and captivated listeners once again. The album is available on CD  as well as all major digital streaming platforms.

Post-Punk.com interviewed Sammel about Mire of Mercury; as well as collaborations with other Estonian artists, her artistic background and her thoughts on her new release through Metropolis Records.

“Mire of Mercury” marks your third album with Bedless Bones. How do you feel your sound and artistic vision have evolved since your first album, “Sublime Malaise“?

It has naturally evolved, but I don’t think it has been heading in a certain direction or with a clear destination. It seems to be meandering between all my interests and influences of the moment. The sound and vision take form with the development of the album, they are not predetermined. I try to keep the process as genuine and truthful to my feelings as possible. I have tried writing some songs in a certain style or approach, but somehow, they still end up sounding a bit *different*, so perhaps I’m incapable of creating music that is purely in one genre or following a set of rules. A certain atmosphere sneaks in. I think certain elements of the music are clearer on Mire of Mercury, compared to my earlier works. I was experimenting a lot with song structures and form on my previous album, and to counter that I wanted to have the skeletons of the songs on the new one to be simpler to let other parts shine.

Your music often blends various genres like darkwave, modern classical, and synth-pop. What is your process for integrating these diverse elements into a cohesive sound? Or is it not as difficult as it appears to be?

I don’t approach it from an engineer’s perspective, taking the characteristic components of different genres and trying to put them together into a harmonious union. I just follow my intuition and choose instruments and sounds I’m drawn towards. Sometimes I notice things like genre connotations only afterwards, and sometimes I don’t at all, and other people come up with these labels and say how things sound like something. For example, modern classical – I don’t know where that came from.

You’ve had a rich musical journey that includes experiences in Estonia’s underground scene and collaborations with Estonian artists. How has the cultural and musical landscape of Estonia influenced the creation and themes of ‘Mire of Mercury‘?”

Not much, at least not knowingly. I’ve collaborated with an Estonian author (Mikk Pärnits) in the capacity that he wrote the text to one of my earlier songs that doesn’t appear on this album. That has also been my only song with all the lyrics in Estonian. Also, Estonian artists and friends Cly/Suva, Tamhiis, Artur Lääts and Oudeis have done remixes for Bedless Bones in the past. I wish we had a more vivacious underground music scene in Estonia when it comes to dark electronic music. I have a small circle of friends whose music taste and creative activities definitely impact my own. However, the fact of living where I live, in the borderland of Eastern and Northern Europe, with its dark cold winters, undoubtedly plays a role too.

You’ve cited various inspirations for your music, from Nick Cave to nighttime wanderings. Were there any new or unexpected sources of inspiration for ‘Mire of Mercury‘?”

Yes, but the core comes from a personal connection, a lived experience or a perspective on something. All my albums are about a state of being, and I try to find metaphors to that essence, alongside looking into what other artists and authors have expressed while working with similar ideas and themes, to broaden the scope. “Dead Woman” draws thematic material from Julia Kristeva’s Black Sun; “Solar Animus” relies on the thoughts of C. G. Jung in Mysterium Coniunctionis; “Litha” is about the two-day Midsummer celebrations we’ve been having for the past five years at my friend’s countryside; “Blood Citadel” is a love song, possibly the first one I’ve written. A big portion of the album was indeed written and produced at night, I stayed up until morning many times. It was interesting how sleep deprivation opened up new channels for ideas. I don’t think I want to do it again though, I’ve slept like a baby since the album was finished.

The visuals in your music videos and live performances play a significant role in your artistic expression. How did you approach the visual aspect for Mire of Mercury?

The visuals are a complementary component here, I think. In the past, I’ve sometimes come up with video and visual ideas parallell with the music, but this time I had the music already finished, before finding and linking the visual elements to it. I just knew I wanted to be in the water on the cover and have the silver tone represented. But, you know, my face is covered and the visuals are not too dominant, the music itself is quite visual, psychedelic even.

You’ve discussed the importance of experimentation in your music. Were there any new techniques or approaches you experimented with in this latest album?

My process itself is an experiment every time as I don’t follow a routine and I always want to start from a different part of the song. I used more samples on this one – I’ve previously mostly used synths and some of my own recordings of the instruments I played myself, but this time I’ve worked with samples more. Regarding lyrics, I had a few sessions of writing in the stream of consciousness and writing words on pieces of paper, putting them into a bowl and taking random pieces out to generate new concepts and ideas. The latter turned out to be useful only in the meditative qualities of the process, and not the results themselves.

You’ve mentioned that your music creation is driven more by feelings and contexts rather than following a specific sound. Can you share how this approach influenced the creation of ‘Mire of Mercury’?

First I think about what I want to express and then about how to express it and all the creative choices to do that. This is elementary. I’m not sure how to explain how this influences the creation as for me, this is the creation.

The track “Tantalus” from “Mire of Mercury” seems to carry a deep mythological significance. Could you elaborate on the inspiration behind this song and its connection to Greek mythology? Are there any other myths, stories or narratives pervading the songs or themes in the album?

Actually “Tantalus” was written back in 2018 in tandem with my song “Niobe”, which was on my debut album. Eventually, “Tantalus” was left out of the album, I can’t remember exactly why, I probably needed to boot one song and it seemed to be too experimental or something. When I came upon it again, I found it to be fascinating and very suitable for this album. The song changes and transforms the feeling of being condemned in the underworld to something else. Both Tantalus and Niobe were punished and damned for their own actions and their legacies serve as cautionary tales. I’ve shifted the perspective and imagined their stories through their eyes, adding more layers to their myths. Maybe it’s like the weird interest in evil people, criminal minds, their past and experiences – we want to make sense of this nonsense of evil, to understand how it came to be. As if finding something redeemable could make humanity more human again.

You have a background in photography and visual arts. How do these disciplines influence your songwriting and music production? It seems to me that each album has a color scheme / story of sorts.

I don’t have synesthesia or anything, so I don’t see music in colours, but when an album is taking shape, I usually feel driven to go for a certain look or feel when it comes to album art and design. Sublime Malaise was surrounded in the ill-inducing worn-out beige, Bending the Iron Bough had its roots wrapped around an earthly green, and Mire of Mercury has a rose-tinted palette, more vivid than before. And for me it is the brightest album of mine, as I was emerging from and drifting away from a depressed state – and even though the path is never linear, there was a sense of overcoming – I was making room for positive change like drinking less and unlearning other harmful habits.

In the past, you’ve spoken about the challenges and rewards of performing live. How has it been translating the songs from “Mire of Mercury” into a live setting?

It has been very easy and fun to play these songs live, they translate well to stage, and I wish we could play more. I’m constantly hearing that it’s difficult to pair Bedless Bones with other bands as we are “too special” – whatever that means. I guess we’ll just have to patiently pave our own way and find our special opportunities.

Collaboration has been a part of your artistic journey. Are there any collaborations on “Mire of Mercury,” and how do these collaborations enhance the album?

No, this album was written, recorded and produced in total solitude and not heard by anyone until it was finished. There was supposed to be a guest vocal appearance on “Tongue and Rhythm”, but unfortunately the artist was eventually unable to do it. As I’m a part of other bands, where I can enjoy the collaborative process and co-creation, I’m quite content with the creative freedom I have with Bedless Bones as a solo endeavor. There’s a pleasure, even if it’s perhaps self-indulgent, in having your successes and failures to yourself and not having any would haves or should haves eating away at your conscience because you’ve sacrificed your own vision to compromise. I’m not excluding the idea of opening up to future collaborations, though. If it feels right, it is absolutely a possibility.

Finally, “Mire of Mercury” has a unique and intriguing title. Can you share the story or meaning or ant musings behind this title and how it represents the album’s themes

I’d rather invite people to listen to the album, to feel Mire of Mercury and imagine what it is and where it takes them. Everyone’s reflections are as valid as my intentions.

Bedless Bones’ Mire of Mercury is out now. Listen below and order here.

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