Some more good news from Sonic Cathedral. If you are a regular visitor to Arcana you will have seen our praise for the new Pye Corner Audio album Let’s Emerge, released on the label last Friday. Now we can bring confirmation of new music from Mark Peters, whose rather wonderful Innerland album provided a geographical record of his move back to Wigan in 2018.
The new album, Red Sunset Dreams, looks much further afield for its inspiration, casting longing eyes across the Atlantic in fact. It features contributions from pedal steel guitar legend B J Cole and vocalist Dot Allison, who sings on two tracks including the single released today, Switch on the Sky. They both appear as part of Peters’ fascination with the ambient side of country music, with Cole’s legendary steel guitar work becoming something of a healthy obsession.
The press release takes up the story, talking of ‘an incredibly evocative trip through the landscapes of old Western movies, exploring their links with the North West of England while touching on wider themes such as isolation, freedom and dementia. Sonically, it builds on the palette of the previous record with instrumentation equally inspired by the ascendant ambient Americana movement and classic country-rock. As a result it ends up somewhere between Acetone’s peerless I Guess I Would, Diamond Head-era Phil Manzanera and the dusty instrumentals on the second disc of David Sylvian’s 1986 classic Gone To Earth.
This is the first album from Pye Corner Audio – aka Martin Jenkins – for the Sonic Cathedral label. It is a wholly logical move, given the producer’s work with Ride guitarist Andy Bell on Social Dissonance, a live recording he made at a Sonic Cathedral night at The Social back in 2019.
It was the first meeting for the pair, and it ticked a lot of musical boxes which lead to the collaboration on this album, where Bell plays guitar on five of the ten tracks. The impetus for this long player is markedly different from Pye Corner Audio’s last in 2021, which was inspired by the underground fungal pathways where plants communicate. This one reaches for the sun, bathing in the summer heat – which makes its release into the middle of a UK heatwave all the more pertinent.
As a bonus, Let’s Emerge! is fronted by vibrant artwork from Marc Jones, consciously drawing on sleeves from LFO, Spaceman 3 and early Stereolab in his vivid colouring.
What’s the music like?
As warm as the cover suggests it should be. Jenkins’ slight adaptation of his music for Sonic Cathedral does indeed take it closer to ‘shoegaze’ if we are looking for a musical label, but it means the music he produces is full of rich colour and dreamlike possibility.
De-Hibernate acts as an awakening, introducing the big sonic backdrop with which Jenkins operates, but also showing how closer inspection reveals studied details in the work of Andy Bell. Broad brush chords from the keyboards, then, are complemented by more intricate guitar work, a blueprint that works extremely well as the album progresses.
The wash of sound on Lyracal confirms the temperature, bathing in consonant harmonies and shimmering textures, while Does It Go Dark shifts to lower pitched drones, its woozy outlines gradually revealing a chord progression of poise and power.
Haze Loops is a rich tapestry of warm sounds, more of a poolside chillout number, before some slightly smaller tracks link seamlessly together as part of a bigger suite. Let’s Emerge Part One breaks like a wave into the ears, retreating to the deeper colours of Saturation Point. Sun Stroke (so appropriate as I type this on the hottest day in UK history!) is thick with humidity, and then after the brief Let’s Emerge Part Two, Luminescence harnesses more rhythmic drive, synths bubbling just below the surface. Finally Warmth Of The Sun, the musical culmination of the album, brings the guitar to its greatest prominence yet, shimmering on the surface with fuzzy vocals and supportive percussion.
It says much that Andy Bell’s contributions are subtly integrated into the music. Not for him the posturing of a typical ‘featured guitarist’ – he gets the mood of Jenkins’ writing and adds his own subtleties to complement it, rather than going for standout melodies each time. It is to his enormous credit that the two work as equals and achieve something far more meaningful.
Does it all work?
It does. Music evokes time and place better than almost anything, and Let’s Emerge! certainly does that with its hot weather soundscapes.
Is it recommended?
Yes – a rather special addition to Martin Jenkins’ work until now as Pye Corner Audio, taking him in the direction of sunnier climes while reminding us of his capacity to evoke images and moods through his electronic music. Andy Bell’s guitar work is the icing on the cake.
You may remember Eric Phillips, otherwise known as Kennebec, from his previous appearance on Arcana. We were rather taken by his debut album Departure, released on Night Time Stories back in 2020 – and now he returns with a sequel.
The press release paints an intriguing picture. Phillips has clearly been busy, completing second album Without Star Or Compass, due for release on 7 October. It is a collaborative piece, made with and for friends – with guests including Sudan Archives, Yazz Ahmed and Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring, aka Hemlock Ernst.
Hemlock Ernst and Sudan Archives front the album’s lead single, the urgent stream of consciousness Tall Tales, which you can experience here:
We look forward to welcoming Kennebec back with a full album review nearer release date, but for now enjoy the prequel to what should be a very fine piece of work!
James Vella returns with a companion piece to his 2020 album as A Lily, Sleep Through The Storm. Where that record was about loneliness and coming to terms with the challenges of the modern world, Nocturne Thunder is built as a more celebratory affair, dancing in the face of adversity. Its five tracks are linked, lasting around 25 minutes in all.
What’s the music like?
Ambient, but active at the same time. Vella’s music is full of primary musical colour, the dappled textures dancing on the surface as the opening track, Like Rising Smoke, takes shape. Its stately bass progression is offset by the figures up above which circle like birds in the half light. There are no drums, but still movement aplenty.
The mid and lower ranges take over for Unnatural Animals, which pulses with movement, driving forward more obviously even though still operating without the influence of a kick drum. This sonorous section promises deeper blues and more nocturnal activity, whereas To Seek Ecstasy In The Dawn brings us to the first light itself. The music gains a deeper and more obvious warmth, shimmering again in the heat haze.
Balafon Heart is an imperious sequence, beautifully judged as a slow bass and gradually shifting treble operate together, before Like A Hymn picks up momentum, light on its feet as we seem to take to the air. Consonant harmonic loops bounce off each other in Vella’s working.
The songs were built live by Vella, and it shows in their instinctive execution. His ear for structure is just right, knowing when to make the most of a mood and when to switch forwards to the next.
Does it all work?
It does. Ideally Nocturne Thunder should be experienced in one sitting, as it is effectively a short DJ set by one person on a bank of synthesizers. It is a descriptive and involving whole.
Is it recommended?
Yes – warmly so. If you have not yet heard Sleep Through The Storm then you should rectify that immediately, and by contrast if you are already familiar with Vella’s work then you will lap this one up too.
A nod in the direction of the Awamu Together festival, due to take place over the long weekend of 29-31 July 2022. All profits from the festival go directly to the Awamu charity’s work with vulnerable women and children in Kampala, Uganda, which explains the festival hashtag, #fundraving!
Together 2022 will once again be set on a farm surrounded by the Chiltern hills, with the location made available to ticket holders nearer the time.
The line-up is tempting to say the least, with – among many others – Echaskech, BUNKR, Steve Cobby and Alucidnation all confirmed. The instruction on the festival website is to take Monday off, with appearances from Bunty & Jomotopia, The Mauskovich Dance Band, Bill Brewster, Yidah and Tom Blip all scheduled on the Sunday.
For more information, and to buy tickets, head to the festival website
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