Hidden Shoal News
Summon the Birds Sign to Hidden Shoal
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the signing of Melbourne band Summon the Birds. Summon the Birds flash out the shadows of the sky, spinning tales of fallen kings, dissected criminals, Arctic exploration, cloud riding and London rain. Imagine latter-day Talk Talk picking the locks to Spoon’s basement as The Drones circle, restless, looking for the pink pill…
Singer-songwriter Jonathan Shaw and bassist/producer Peter Woodlands began the band in 2007, with Kris Arrowsmith joining on drums, and guitarist Tim Clarke seduced into the fray after the dissolution of instrumental shoegaze band Bury the Sound. Their debut album 48, based on the I Ching, saw release in 2012, closely followed by single ‘Digger’ in 2013. The seeds of second album Blood Love were sown back in 2009, with song sketches dreamt up by Shaw massaged into shape in the band’s Hurstbridge rehearsal room. In 2014, bassist Drew Corby replaced Peter Woodlands, and the recording of Blood Love began in earnest.
Summon the Birds’ second album Blood Love will see release late 2017, preceded by single ‘London Tap Water’ on 7th August. The album was recorded by producer and engineer Tim Johnston (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dandy Warhols, The Drones). Read more about Summon the Birds here.
Slow Dancing Society’s “Lilac Lullabies” EP Out Now!
We’re excited to announce the release Lilac Lullabies, the first in a series of four new Slow Dancing Society EPs. The EP follows hot on the heels of the reissue of his acclaimed debut album The Sound of Lights When Dim. Each of the new EPs will be released digitally, one per month from June to September 2017, with the four EPs released collectively on double vinyl later in the year. Lilac Lullabies is available now via Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and the other usual outlets.
Lilac Lullabies is a concise, five-song serving of SDS’s sensual, free-flowing ambient. It revisits the atmospheric feel of earlier albums The Sound of Lights When Dim, The Slow and Steady Winter and Priest Lake Circa ’88, with a delicious sense of space and restraint. Centrepiece ‘A Quiet Storm’ reaches heavenwards with its Gilmour-esque guitar lines, while ‘Before We Wake’ is a meditation on weightlessness, with gently pulsing bass and an ephemeral shroud of synth. And ‘The Dusty Morning Light’ brings the EP to a reflective close with its beautifully wistful Mellotron line.
Slow Dancing Society is Washington-based producer and musician Drew Sullivan, who has released 7 albums on Hidden Shoal over the last 11 years. As with Brian Eno’s finest moments and David Sylvian’s ambient explorations, Slow Dancing Society’s music manages to dissolve its temporal markers and speak about moments removed from time. It talks to the delicious flaws of memory and feeling whilst never sullying itself with literality or simple documentation.
New Battlestations Preview!
Battlestations’ fans and those inevitably about to be, prepare yourself! We’re excited to be able to present a preview of Battlestations‘ majestic new album Vixit. The album drops on the 23rd of June through Hidden Shoal and will be available from Battlestations’ Bandcamp and all good 3rd party stores. Check out the excerpt of the opening track ‘I’ on SoundCloud.
While 2015’s The Extent of Damage felt like a high-definition camera roving across a ruined world, listening to Vixit feels like witnessing an intimidating new dawn, barely comprehensible from a merely human perspective. Massive and awe-inspiring, this three-part composition is breathtaking in scope and stunning in execution. Synthesizers, orchestra and choirs interweave into a billowing tapestry of glorious sound that completely envelopes the listener.
Brief centrepiece ‘II’ is the calm at the eye of the storm, a ruminative piano piece that brings a sense of intimacy to a suite of music that is all about challenging the listener’s sense of scale. To either side, massive tracks ‘I’ and ‘III’ stretch out into multi-part compositions that are as deep and wide as any orchestral piece, tempered with a sensibility akin to ‘70s kosmische music and the most progressive neo-classical ambient.
New Slow Dancing Society Single and EP Pre-Order
‘Overture‘ is the first taste of the forthcoming Lilac Lullabies, the first in a series of four new Slow Dancing Society EPs. The EP follows hot on the heels of the reissue of his acclaimed debut album The Sound of Lights When Dim. Each of the new EPs will be released digitally, one per month from June to September 2017, with the four EPs released collectively on double vinyl later in the year. ‘Overture’ is available now for streaming on SoundCloud and the EP is available for pre-order via Bandcamp.
Lilac Lullabies is a concise, five-song serving of SDS’s sensual, free-flowing ambient. It revisits the atmospheric feel of earlier albums The Sound of Lights When Dim, The Slow and Steady Winter and Priest Lake Circa ’88, with a delicious sense of space and restraint. Centrepiece ‘A Quiet Storm’ reaches heavenwards with its Gilmour-esque guitar lines, while ‘Before We Wake’ is a meditation on weightlessness, with gently pulsing bass and an ephemeral shroud of synth. And ‘The Dusty Morning Light’ brings the EP to a reflective close with its beautifully wistful Mellotron line.
Slow Dancing Society is Washington-based producer and musician Drew Sullivan, who has released 7 albums on Hidden Shoal over the last 11 years. As with Brian Eno’s finest moments and David Sylvian’s ambient explorations, Slow Dancing Society’s music manages to dissolve its temporal markers and speak about moments removed from time. It talks to the delicious flaws of memory and feeling whilst never sullying itself with literality or simple documentation.
Markus Mehr’s “Dyschronia” Out Now!
Dyschronia, the brilliant seventh album by prolific German experimentalist Markus Mehr is now officially out! The album is available via Bandcamp in digital and limited edition cassette formats and available for streaming and download via the usual 3rd party stores.
“pushing his emotionally-charged sonic sculptures into much more dangerous and unpredictable territory… Totally mesmerizing and beautiful.” – Decoder Magazine on Binary Rooms
Dyschronia is a complex, musically exhilarating exploration of our modern perception of time. As our temporal relationships have become unmoored from natural rhythms, we experience profound disconnection and distortion, leaving us disoriented and disturbed. Mehr crafted the seven pieces over the course of more than five years, resulting in a dizzying collage of sound that both conveys and charts a path through digital consciousness.
Dyschronia simultaneously employs and dissolves electronic markers, creating a heady and at times groundless ride. As with all Mehr’s work, the album is challenging yet incredibly satisfying, shot through with moments of quite staggering beauty, such as the haunting acoustic guitar melody in ‘Dyschronia 4’. At the album’s conclusion, the sample “Why didn’t you destroy the tapes?” speaks to our inability to escape surveillance, our very lives enmeshed in the technology we have created in our attempts at liberation.
Kramies Live on Balcony TV, Ireland
Check out this lovely little interview with Kramies along with a live rendition of ‘The Fate That Never Favored Us’ by the cool Irish project Balcony TV. Ireland you ask? Kramies’ currently finds himself in Irish castle as part of an artists residency in a stunning Irish castle where he is currently writing and finishing his next release. Expect more magic from our dreampop troubadour very soon.
In the meanwhile check out the interview below or head to the Balcony TV website.
Washington Hebrew s/t Debut Out Now!
The time has come for this wild sonic ride to be unleashed upon the world. The debut solo album from Washington Hebrew (aka Michael Kentoff of The Caribbean) is now officially with us, available via Bandcamp and the usual online stores and streaming services. Featuring the brilliant single ‘Bank Holiday Wknd‘, Washington Hebrew acts as both a leap and bridge for Kentoff. Inspired by his use of samples and loops for installations, remixes and soundtrack projects, Kentoff has employed these raw materials to craft new songs akin to the wonderfully skewed and melodic pop of The Caribbean, but with a magic all its own.
“They are bound to confound your expectations several times on any given album, and if you’re into that, they’re good enough at putting these weird songs together that they can pull you in with surprising ease.” – Pitchfork on The Caribbean
In Michael’s own words, “I wanted Washington Hebrew to take what I loved of Chicago footwork, soundtracks, Dilla, and broken beats, take existing sounds and music, sample them, chop them up (often beyond recognition), and create completely new hooks and songs out of the raw, pulpy material. Recorded largely (although not entirely) alone, I was able to work on the nine songs making up Washington Hebrew in the studio, at coffee shops, at work, helping the record radiate an intimate, sneaky, and slightly indulgent glow while emphasizing the glitchy, danceable beats that made me look really weird while I mixed tracks at Starbucks.”
Exclusive Washington Hebrew Track Stream at Ondarock
Head over to Italy’s wonderful Ondarock for an exclusive stream of the Washington Hebrew track ‘Ima Try’ lifted from his forthcoming self titled debut. The exclusive follows the release of first single ‘Bank Holiday Wknd’, available now for free download and stream. Washington Hebrew will see release on 28th April 2017.
Gorgeous New Chloë March Track!
‘Sennen’ is the first taste of the new album by English dream-pop artist Chloë March, scheduled for release later in the year. The song is another stunning exercise in atmosphere and melody, all held together by March’s unmistakably honey-glazed vocals. In her own words,
“I love watching or being in the sea when it’s raining and this track is inspired by that sensory experience. I wanted to get a sense of that hypnotic state induced by the waves and the falling rain and that hazy, misty light that can be quite hallucinatory.”
The track is available as a pay what you want download via BandCamp.
Apricot Rail Announced for In The Pines 2017
After yelling out Craig Hallsworth‘s inclusion to the In The Pines 2017 line-up we can now excitedly add another Hidden Shoal band to the list in the form of the mighty Apricot Rail. Craig Hallsworth and Apricot Rail will play alongside the likes of Jebediah, Sodastream, Institut Polaire, Childsaint, Doctopus, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving and many more. In The Pines is an RTRFM and Perth yearly institution with the line up and even never failing to impress. It all happens on the 30th April with pre-sale tickets available now for a ridiculously cheap $35 or $30 if you’re an RTRFM subscriber. All details available here.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
