{"title":"Language of Stone","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"if-the-sun-dies","title":"If The Sun Dies","description":"\u003cp\u003eDormancy comes in many forms. For some it is a break from the world of stress and the constant demands one finds oneself under. For others it is a much needed respite from the grind, a time to disengage from the wheel and collect oneself for the next challenge.\u003cem\u003e If The Sun Dies\u003c\/em\u003e, Greg Weeks’ seventh release, is a signal that his respite is over. Pursuing creativity once again, Weeks finds himself in a period of explosive productivity. He has written an enormous number of songs over the past few years, enough to fuel five separate projects, including \u003cem\u003eIf The Sun Dies\u003c\/em\u003e. In addition, he has rebuilt his Hexham Head Studio (still all analog, still twenty-four tracks) and resuscitated his label Language Of Stone (sans imprint status).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf The Sun Dies, which takes its title from an Oriana Fallaci novel, is every bit a Weeks album: cryptic-poetic lyrics over melancholic melodies strummed on acoustic guitar and ornamented with the analog instruments he has forever treasured (Hammond Organ, Mellotron, Mini-Moog, and effects-laden guitars). However, the album feels like a departure, a maturation in both content and approach despite its many echoes from the past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album’s running thread is melancholia, but lyrically the tunes couldn’t be more disparate. “If The Sun Dies” is an anthem that posits the end of things being the only means by which two people can find time to truly connect. “The Heathen Heart” speaks to one’s desire for salvation yet underscores a different, more frightening reality. The more narrative “A Narrow Star” follows a young woman’s journey into entropy, while “Tail Lights Burn The Hillside Red” explores the depression that likely drove her there. Shifting gears, “Dream You Awake” investigates the more archetypal territory of the star-crossed lovers, while “Driven” attempts, unsuccessfully, to put the genie back into the bottle. “Ridley Street,” a song about a stalker, is juxtaposed to “Rainless,” a song that believes in the transcendent power of love. While “A Million Ways To Die” and “Gone Darkside” tread quite literal territory, the album’s closer, “What It Takes” questions identity in the face of pharmaceuticals. Taken in total, the album amounts to a complete return to form.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Language of Stone","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":53506879291723,"sku":"R9353-0715","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5cdc4b9f-572f-dfb4-39bb-515c38e6902d.jpg?v=1759245065"},{"product_id":"music-for-mandrax","title":"Music For Mandrax","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew gothic psychedelic band featuring members of Espers, The Valerie Project, and Fern Knight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA magus is a wizard…a sorcerer. Magus, the band, is certainly interested in such things (who isn’t), but the name is especially apt due to the band’s approach to alchemy, the blending of rock, gothic, proto metal, and psychedelic styles to create a sound that is, ultimately, unique. Part of that uniqueness comes from the instrumentation. While guitar is often a dominant instrument of the rock oeuvre, the Fender Rhodes generally plays a supportive role. Not so here, where Jessica Weeks’ deft use of the keyboard dovetails with Greg Weeks’ more standard six-string approach. Not standard is the band’s sound. Doomy yet inspirational, dour yet vibrant, the duo’s tunes map sinister realms whose subjects span metaphysical creatures to enigmatic portals. You know, the typical stuff that rubs elbows with a magus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormed in late 2024, Magus sprung from a desire by both artists to experiment with darker, heavier sounds. Long enamored of artists like Flower Travelling Band,, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple, the duo delved deeply into trance like riffs and euphoric solos to create the backbone of what has become their debut album, \u003cem\u003eMusic for Mandrax\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis thirteenth Language of Stone offering features grounded, metronomic grooves, organic, lugubrious synth lines, and tandem vocals (supplied by both Weekses) that, in total, weave a heavy, trancelike spell sure to entice fans of bands as disparate as Sabbath is to Pink Floyd. Recorded at Weeks’ Hexham Head studio (to analog tape, of course), the band enlisted long-time counterparts Jesse Sparhawk (bass) and Ben McConnell (drums) to round out their sound and lock down the grooves that propel the album. Mixed by Brian McTear and Amy Morrisey at Miner Street in Philadelphia, the band’s fully realized vision came to fruition, which left only the album art to contemplate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe band, wishing to further the gothic aesthetic of their sound, enlisted fashion designer and artist extraordinaire Hogan McLaughlin (Game of Thrones) to create the starkly beautiful line drawings of the front and back covers. The duo travelled to Salem, MA to complete the package with Courtney Brooke Hall, who shot the moody and evocative photographs that grace the gatefold release’s inner panels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Bauhaus, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Sabbath, or even more obscure offerings such as Germany’s Broselmachine\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Language of Stone","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56559365816651,"sku":"R0768-4220","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/45eb226c-fe12-52bc-4a30-ad61db387493.jpg?v=1771427133"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/language-of-stone.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}