{"title":"Melodic","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMelodic is a British independent record label founded by David Cooper in 1999. Based in Manchester, England, Melodic has established itself as a prominent player in the music industry. With a diverse roster of talented artists and performers, Melodic continues to push boundaries and deliver exceptional music to its loyal fan base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSince its inception, Melodic has been dedicated to discovering and nurturing emerging talent across various genres. The label's commitment to quality and innovation has earned it a reputation for being at the forefront of cutting-edge music. With an emphasis on artistic integrity and creative freedom, Melodic provides a platform for artists to express themselves authentically.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith over two decades of experience, Melodic has built strong relationships with both established acts and up-and-coming musicians. The label's extensive catalogue boasts an impressive array of releases that span multiple genres including indie rock, electronic, folk, and more. Whether you're searching for *upbeat anthems* or *introspective ballads*, Melodic offers something for every musical taste.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"capital-2","title":"Capital","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Drink are back with an amazing sophomore album released just 11 months after their critically acclaimed debut. Playing things safe has never been The Drink's philosophy. Throughout the trio's evolution, their gloriously off-kilter guitar pop melodies and lyrical curiosities have commanded attention - and on brand new album 'Capital', they're pushing the boundaries even further, eschewing meticulous planning in favour of instinct across even more wondrously intriguing tracks. Take the disco-infused 'You Won't Come Back At All', born from a night out dancing in Whitechapel, whilst lead track 'The Coming Rain' is the result of years spent listening to Kenyan Ayub Ogada. Elsewhere the nervy blues guitar sound of 'Hair Trigger' and 'Like A River' are driven by what Dearbhla calls a 'got-to-catch-my-train feel'. 'Capital' is a massive leap forward in sound, song and intrigue. Think a mix of Life Without Buildings or a choir girl fronting the Dirty Projectors. CD - Six panel digipak on reverse white board.LP - 180 Gram heavyweight vinyl in printed inner sleeve and reverse board outer sleeve with CD Version.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383119384907,"sku":"393954","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ce18048c-c42b-4142-8d95-406418bfac6f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726263562"},{"product_id":"themes-from","title":"Themes From…","description":"\u003cp\u003eSecond album as \u003cem\u003eNyx Nótt\u003c\/em\u003e from \u003cstrong\u003eArab Strap's Aidan Moffat\u003c\/strong\u003e. \"\u003cem\u003eThe plan was to make twenty 90-second tracks designed as TV themes\u003c\/em\u003e,\" says \u003cstrong\u003eArab Strap’s Aidan Moffat\u003c\/strong\u003e, of the initial thought behind his new instrumental album as \u003cem\u003eNyx Nótt\u003c\/em\u003e. \"\u003cem\u003eBut it wasn't a satisfying listen, it was too gimmicky and silly\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo instead, Moffat decided to stretch the idea out, plunge deeper, and expand the music into full tracks, \"\u003cem\u003emaking some of them quite long and dramatic, with the odd swift turn here and there\u003c\/em\u003e.\" In fleshing these tracks out into more fully realized songs he began sourcing samples from professional TV and film music libraries. \"\u003cem\u003eThe focus then turned to making a proper album out of these modern library sounds\u003c\/em\u003e,\" he says. \"\u003cem\u003eI decided to stick with the Themes From title and named the tracks after the sorts of shows they made me think of when I listened back\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a record that explores genre themes such as: ‘Thriller, ‘Porno’, ‘Caper’ and Swashbuckler’, and acts as an audio equivalent of channel hopping through a unique TV station programmed by Moffat. \"\u003cem\u003eI still wasn't sure about all this until I did the album cover, which brought it all together\u003c\/em\u003e,\" he says, of the artwork that places an old smashed TV unit front and center with a woman perched on top. \"\u003cem\u003eIt has echoes of old TV compilations but is pretty cheeky and slightly sexy in that old 70s compilation style. I wanted this one to look a bit more fun than the last one, as well as hopefully sound a bit more fun too\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAside from being a fun experience, it is also a stirring and immersive listen, one that allows the listener to imagine their own accompanying visual scenarios to each musical theme. The opening ‘Docudrama’ marries a gently creeping beat with strings that glide from tense to sweeping, while ‘Porno’ is all seedy smoky jazz that feels plucked right out of Travis Bickle’s late night trips to porn cinemas in Taxi Driver. Touches of jazz pop up in other places too, on ‘Hardboiled’ this merges with subtle pulses and gargles of electronics that build to a rousing crescendo of horns and bleeps, and on ‘Caper’ there’s a vivacious full jazz band skip to the lively swinging rhythms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"There's a few more jazzy elements here,\" Moffat says. \"\u003cem\u003eAlthough I'm not quite sure where that came from. Although, like everyone else, I've had plenty of time to be introspective recently, so I decided the next Nyx Nótt album should be more upbeat and encourage some occasional foot-tapping\u003c\/em\u003e.\" However, what becomes apparent, the longer you spend in the world of \u003cem\u003eThemes From\u003c\/em\u003e, is how singular and unique the tone of each composition is. \"\u003cem\u003eEach track has its own individual feel\u003c\/em\u003e,\" says Moffat. \"\u003cem\u003eThe idea was to sound like a different composer and band throughout\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s a stylistic leap that continues \u003cem\u003eNyx Nótt’s\u003c\/em\u003e trajectory as one that shares no direct link to Moffat’s other projects. \"\u003cem\u003eI approach them in completely different ways and with a different purpose in mind\u003c\/em\u003e,\" says Moffat. \"\u003cem\u003eI don't think Nyx has ever heard of Arab Strap, and certainly doesn't own any of their albums\u003c\/em\u003e.\" It’s also a notable shift from the debut album under this moniker, and suitably given the theme, Moffat has created a visual comparison between these two sonic worlds. \"\u003cem\u003eIf the first Nyx Nótt album was like looking out on dark prairies before dawn, this is more like a walk through a neon Soho after a few cocktails\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50383220932939,"sku":"1169813","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383220343115,"sku":"1169812","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/81e69a9f-ced6-4b2f-9e2e-28354eebb56d_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726265514"},{"product_id":"shapes-and-colors","title":"Shapes and Colors","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShapes and Colors\u003c\/i\u003e shimmies with the charismatic energy of ESG, Tom Tom Club, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, and the dub hits of King Tubby, the melodic sensibilities of Prince, Stereolab, and idiosyncratic Deerhoof offering an ornate alternative to traditional guitar pop chord progressions as they layer wrecking ball-sized danceable motifs to rumble the dust off the cars on the street from the nearby concrete factory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you find the time, please come and stay a while in abracadabra’s beautiful neighbourhood; a magically wonky wonderland where strangers leave as friends to a block party soundtrack as eclectic as it is infectious. The California duo’s album shapes \u0026amp; colors is a dazzling collage of psych-fuelled synthscapes and contemporary Baroque-pop of anti-capitalist movements and escapism, precisely pieced around their own working lives in a blue-collar town.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the heart of Oakland’s industrial Jingletown above a former auto-repair shop in what was once a mechanics’ break room where poker rounds ensued, Hannah Skelton (Vocals, Synthesizers) and Chris Niles, (Bass, Synthesizers) constructed the angular 80s-tinged anthems (think John Hughes montages to Talking Heads) of their new album, to positively offset the pandemic’s amplification of dysfunctional society. “It reflects our current reality: a huge mess that is systematically broken but isn’t entirely lost,” Hannah tells. “We’re inviting listeners to conjure up every drop of hope and willpower left inside them, pour that into the giant vat of anger and frustration bubbling inside us all, and with this potion collectively enact the necessary change to bring love and light into this dark space.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Covid forced Hannah from her salon in San Francisco to become a backyard mobile hairdresser, what she saw inspired them both and the lyrical foundations for their new record. “I’d drive to mansions and people would complain about how hard the pandemic had been next to their swimming pool and tennis courts.” First meeting after the album’s co-producer Jason Kick (Mild High Club, Sonny and the Sunsets) recruited the pair for a Halloween band covering Eurythmics’ art-rock debut ‘In The Garden,’ the pair hit it off and S\u003ci\u003ehapes and colors\u003c\/i\u003e is a product of the years that followed. It combines Chris’ own rhythmic demos following years on the road touring and opening for Amon Tobin, Matthew Dear and Generationals in Maus Haus with Hannah’s lyrical musings honed from project Cassiopeia, so even when topics are as heavy as the beats, they’re met with luminously positive arrangements of hope and warmth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe by-product of a psychedelic New Year’s Eve escaping a monotonous 2020 reality, the title track itself captures fireworks over East Oakland as viewed from the pair’s couch whilst listening to Mort Garson’s Plantasia for 6 hours straight. The daydream collage of ‘inyo county’ is “a little souvenir taking me back into the bottled-up essence of a slow lazy morning, waking up in bed far from home,” Hannah tells recalling those enforced stay-at-home days. “It fell out of me because I was craving that blissful flavour.” Meanwhile ‘dawn of the age of aquarius’s new parallel reality evolved from a happy accident when their demos had reset to a drone which Jason reworked into a Laurie Anderson-esque breathy vocoder effect. Even bloops and beeps from a forgotten recording session at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Emeryville can be heard, where the pair used Mini Moog, Fairlight EMI and ARP 2600 to arrange their sound into shapes whilst distortion and dirt from mixing on 1979 Neve 5313 Console added to the recordings’ color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCasting a brighter rainbow still, in all its pastel-hued glory, Hannah, also illustrated a self-portrait of the band for the album artwork. “It reflects our makeshift recording studio to encapsulate all aspects of that time and space,” she shares of their abode where, over an intense two-week period and fuelled by the aroma of fermenting vino from the winery below, their single chord, bass and drum-heavy, groove-first momentum took them on an unexpected journey whilst the next-door couple would fire pizzas in their yard and a grandfather across the road would sweep the street clean. “We’d drink coffee and start the day, consistently working, without interruption,” Chris tells of finding their flow. “The loft is a cool space with skylights, tall ceilings and no shared walls so we could be as loud as we wanted to be.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJust as well. Diving into decades of electronica and crunchy sound effects, field recordings and animal sounds, blended with an infectious Latin influence, S\u003ci\u003ehapes and colors\u003c\/i\u003e is bolstered by live percussionists Greg Poneris (drums), K. Dylan Edrich (Vocals, Percussion: congas, bongos, chimes, cow bells and wood blocks, tone drum and tri-tone whistle) and Tom Smith (Guitar, Synthesizers, Vocals). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNIMBY crews grab those earplugs now. abracadabra is your new noisy neighbour, and there’s no turning this party down.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50383317303627,"sku":"2002378","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/shapes__colors_16ad77d4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726267198"},{"product_id":"vanities","title":"Vanities","description":"\u003cp\u003eW H Lung return with album number two - a record that is direct, punchy and potent. Merging silky vocals, strutting grooves, enveloping textures, and a sparkling blend of electronic and pop music. The directness comes from making music more intuitively, and more from a place of fun. The album documents a period of change for the group. They lost a member in Tom Derbyshire, moved from Manchester to Todmorden and fell in love more with dance music and the shifting sense of community and inclusivity that came with these changes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album was written with a process of passing ideas back and forth, in a spirit of playfulness and exploration. The songs were then further refined in the studio of band member Chris Mulligan (guitar, bass, keys), a producer in his own right, who helped to further refine the arrangement and directness of the songs. Despite being written in isolation and remoteness the album is rooted in very real physical spaces. Because of this voracious appetite for new music and the experiences that come with that hunger, influences on the album are vast: Weatherall, Robyn, Todd Terje, Grauzone, Kelly Lee Owens, Helena Hauff and countless others. But the end result is something distinctly the band’s own.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | LP","offer_id":50383971352907,"sku":"1128698","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50383971516747,"sku":"1124756","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383971189067,"sku":"1124755","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f7b706ab-47bd-4f24-b68a-48ce93cf2067_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726281081"},{"product_id":"incidental-music","title":"Incidental Music","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eW. H. Lung\u003c\/strong\u003e have allowed this album to naturally gestate over the course of two years. 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Yet the songs on his latest, \u003cem\u003eAnagrams\u003c\/em\u003e, beautiful yet unflinching portraits of addiction and mental illness are captured in his most meticulous and high-fidelity production to date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile one might expect the record to be a final destination, a tidy hi-res apex of all his journeying, the album's particularly varied styles and sincere lyrical uncertainty portray a search that still continues. \u003cem\u003eAnagrams\u003c\/em\u003e finds him chasing melodies in the polished largesse of a proper studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnagrams\u003c\/em\u003e was intensely recorded over 2 years at Unknown, a retrofitted analogue studio in a lofty, de-sanctified church in the secluded island town of Anacortes, Washington. Assisted by engineer Nicholas Wilbur and featuring performances by members of Mt. 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What he wasn't expecting was a million Youtube streams and an avid fanbase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow, the South-Wales born, Liverpool-based songwriter is ready to release a full EP of his compelling, lushly produced dream-pop. Born outside Cardiff, \u003cem\u003eStrawberry Guy\u003c\/em\u003e moved to Liverpool to study music and grow as a writer. Whether it's playing keyboards in The Orielles or just being part of the city's growing musical scene, \u003cstrong\u003eAlex\u003c\/strong\u003e plays music for the love of music, something that heavily translates into his adept songwriting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMuch of the inspiration for \u003cstrong\u003eAlex's\u003c\/strong\u003e work comes from experience rather than other artists. In terms of musical touchstones however, there's the obvious dream-pop contemporaries such as Beach House and Weyes Blood, coupled with great songwriters of old like Nat King Cole or Harry Nilsson. Sonically, a blend of orchestral and synthesized melodies layer together to act as a platform for his heartfelt lyrics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOpener \"\u003cem\u003eWithout You\u003c\/em\u003e\" is a fine example of this, a break-up song of sorts, with an infectious keyboard melody and swirling synths over which \u003cstrong\u003eAlex\u003c\/strong\u003e contemplates whether it's even possible to find lasting love. Contrast this with the final track, the titular \"\u003cem\u003eTaking My Time To Be\u003c\/em\u003e,\" a powerful song of self-discovery. Beginning with downtempo piano and drums, the song breaks out into a saxophone and synth solo that wouldn't go amiss on a Badalamenti soundtrack. 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And whilst Shirley Hurt might be the perfect nom de plume for the creative Toronto-based artist, it’s her self-titled debut album which positions her as protagonist of her own universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTraversing sonic landscapes, \u003cstrong\u003eShirley Hurt\u003c\/strong\u003e’s vocals ebb and flow like lyrical Ley lines tracking the contours of her own well-travelled map. By the age of 18, Hurt had travelled extensively, having lived in upwards of 20 different apartments and houses, as a result never really feeling “at home” anywhere. At this age was when Hurt found herself in New York, dipping her toes into various scenes and musical realms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first and only place she ever felt at home, and a partial home-base for her, she travelled between Toronto and New York until the age of 26. When the project she was working on in New York reached a dead-end she returned West, moving in with musicians Harrison Forman (Hieronymus Harry, Zones) and Patrick Lefler (Roy, Possum).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeing surrounded by their improvising at all hours, a new approach emerged. “Harrison is a virtuosic guitar player, and I hadn't picked up a guitar in any serious way since I was 16,” she says, “by osmosis I started playing again for fun.” Without agenda, the process grew organically from there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHurt\u003c\/strong\u003e and Forman decided to travel across the US and Canada in a trailer for half a year, with the entire album written in the final months of their trip. Hurt had been writing loose ideas here and there but felt blocked creatively. When the pair reached Berkley, they wound up house-sitting for a tuned-in friend who recommended she pray, in a very direct way, to remove the block. “I took her advice and to my surprise it worked. The album was conceptualized and finished within a couple of months.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShapeshifting in tone and phrasing, \u003cstrong\u003eHurt\u003c\/strong\u003e’s music alchemizes the furthest corners of experimental indie folk, pop, and country into a singular sound with elegant unpredictability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst \u003cstrong\u003eShirley Hurt\u003c\/strong\u003e’s lyrical and structural ideas may have emerged on the road, the album was self-produced and recorded at Joseph Shabason (The War on Drugs)’s Aytche studio in Toronto’s West End. It was engineered by Nathan Vanderwielen and Chris Shannon (Bart), and Hurt enlisted collaborators Jason Bhattacharya, Nick Dourado, Patrick Lefler, and Harrison Forman to hone her vision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the songs until we returned to Toronto,” she recalls. “Joseph and I had been talking about working together after sending across some demos and Jason happened to recommend his studio at the exact same time, so everything came together naturally at that point.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst her most recent adventures may have seen \u003cstrong\u003eShirley Hurt\u003c\/strong\u003e bound for Texas as an official SXSW artist (hand-picked by Gorilla Vs Bear to perform at their own showcase), she currently resides in her native Canada, more specifically rural Ontario, close to friends and family, and is already working on her second album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ties to lineage are interwoven in the fabric of the music. Hurt’s mother, artist Leala Hewak, instilled a lust for life and innate value of creativity in her from a young age as she explored the role of gallery owner, vintage jewellery show host, mid-century modern furniture expert, real estate agent, painter. Hurt’s father, a civil litigation lawyer and new-wave obsessed music lover with an extensive vinyl collection, introduced Hurt to a wide-range of artists at a young age such as Nina Hagen, Laurie Anderson, Tom Tom Club, and endless others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn her video for ‘Problem Child’ Hurt’s grandmother walks her through a generationally revered pie-making process. One would be tempted to hear this, and other songs, as autobiographical. Yet, Hurt’s lyrics are rarely pulled from her relationships or personal history––at least not consciously. Rather, they arise from somewhere less tangible or defined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Lyrics tend to come to me when I am doing non-musical things - washing dishes, brushing my dogs, walking to the grocery store. I have a lot of voice memos on my phone and half-filled notebooks and when I hear something, I have to stop what I'm doing to get the idea down. Usually it’s bits and pieces. 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Having studied their respective instruments at the Royal Northern College of Music, both artists have flourished in eclectic solo and collaborative projects, creating intricate and intimate spheres of sound with a deep appreciation for songwriting and improvisation.\u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHolland-Fricke’s transition from the classical world to writing her own material, and later vastly expanding her palette with electronics, first converged with Rogan’s distinctive flair for production in 2022 on her EP “birdsong for breakfast” and single ‘draw on the walls’. Now, the duo present an album envisioned through true ‘50\/50’ collaboration during the summer of 2023, written across two intensive weeks of improvising and experimenting at Rogan’s Greenwich home studio. A convergence of the artists’ sounds and influences, the music was fostered by the idea of making an album with ‘no plan’ and their shared recent discovery of Arthur Russell, to whom the final track is dedicated.\u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003edear alien\u003c\/i\u003e assembles eight compositions that emerged naturally as the duo created sketches with cello and pedals, guitar, tape loops and poetic vocal musings, forming songs that explore themes of waiting, circling back around, and glitchy communication. Moments of drifting through pillowy layers of sound contrast with saturated visions of electronic modification, where the record’s glowing instrumental contours are pushed to the extremes.\u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Mabe Fratti, Arthur Russell, Ichiko Aoba.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50532312645963,"sku":"2221209","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/dear_alien_a0184092_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728119497"},{"product_id":"passenger-1","title":"Passenger","description":"\u003cp\u003eFlickering in ultraviolet, there is an elusive place where blue pill meets red, ups become downs, and day merges with night. Those liminal spaces where anything is possible is where you’ll find Nightbus and their hypnotic debut album \u003cem\u003ePassenger\u003c\/em\u003e. Doom, uncertainty, and opportunity lurk in the shadowy corners of their murky existence with stops at disassociation, co-dependency, and addiction before reaching its final destination - a glimmer of hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe in-between of Nightbus’ own Gotham lies where Manchester’s city pulse meets Stockport’s outer realm. An audio-visual entity formed among a musical family of friends, freaks, and foes in messy mills and after hours on dancefloors alike, their sound bleeds from tension where collective creative forces are bound together and collide with the fallout of being torn apart. Before even playing a show, their So Young released single ‘Mirrors’ – a knowing nod of respect to some well-known gloomy Northerners - may have made old school indie heads shimmy at shows in Salford’s The White Hotel but also signalled the duo’s knack for offering listeners a Bandersnatch approach to hitchhiking their own personal Nightbus in whatever direction they choose to take. “Everyone can have their moment with our songs; the music is our response to who we are as young people, living in the city full of this energy right now,” they say.\u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded at The Nave in Leeds with producer-engineer Alex Greaves (Heavy Lungs, Working Men’s Club), surprise and danger lies in every crevice. Brooding whispers turn to chants on 6-minute opus ‘Host.’ Improvised when performed live, its immersive shift in tempo leads to hefty dub courtesy of Jake’s pedals. 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One that is just about clinging on from the encroaching developments that surround them.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgainst this back-drop where buildings are constantly torn down and built back again, the three piece craft away. Pulling from early post-rock, and 90s US alternative rock, crafting their own brand of Northwest-emo. Assembling something new, yet nostalgic. Looking ahead towards the transforming horizon. Shaking Hand’s music is built on tension and release – quiets that stretch, louds that overwhelm. Repetition that feels both hypnotic and destabilising. “The best ideas are when it feels like it’s just about to fall apart and we’re only just holding on,” says Freddie.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe band’s musical DNA runs through experimental guitar outfits like Women, Slint, Sonic Youth, Pavement, and Ulrika Spacek, balanced with the melodic sensibility of Big Thief and the dynamic intimacy of Yo La Tengo. Their compositions push against structure: sudden jolts of tempo, polyrhythms that almost fall apart, and riffs that unravel into something fragile or ecstatic. Yet, as Ellis notes, there’s an underlying warmth too: “Like walking through an empty city late at night but catching flickers of life in the buildings you pass.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly ideas like ‘Night Owl’ and ‘Sundance’ grew out of George’s lockdown “bedroom years,” where new tunings (open E, drop D, and stranger Pavement-inspired set-ups) opened up uncharted textures. Later, in grim rehearsal rooms, the murky epic ‘Cable Ties’ and the hypnotic ‘Mantras’ absorbed the gloom and grit of the band’s surroundings.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album was recorded with producer David Pye (Wild Beasts, Teenage Fanclub) at Nave Studios in Leeds, housed in a converted church. “The live room was huge and perfect for capturing our sound,” says George. Determined to bottle their onstage energy, the band tracked the foundations live, layering vocals and guitars later. Soviet-era microphones, odd mic placements, and even phone-recorded demos fed into the mix. “You’ve got to watch out for David though,” Freddie laughs. “He made me play four tambourines in one hand, really hurt, man.”\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLyrically, the record drifts between abstraction and lived moments. George’s words often spill out instinctively, words falling into place before their meaning becomes clear. “A lot of the lyrics look like they’re buried in abstraction,” he says, “but when I look back I can see what they were about — whether that’s an emotional response at the time or just an observation of what was happening around me”. There’s contrast at the heart of it all – optimism vs. doubt, the lightness of youth vs. the monotony of work, a city in constant redevelopment vs. the people drifting through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album artwork is taken from unused plans for the 1970s redevelopment of Los Angeles by architect Ray Kappe, entitled ‘People Movers’. Hypothetical buildings for real people, it feels a complement to the band’s own constructions. One thing’s for sure, Shaking Hand’s debut is built to last\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":53529361056075,"sku":"R7005-8826","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53529361088843,"sku":"R7005-8888","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MELO148CoverHIRES.jpg?v=1759558696"},{"product_id":"punch-card","title":"Punch Card","description":"\u003cp\u003eStoke-On-Trent’s most tuned-in and turned-out trio are releasing debut album \u003cem\u003ePunch Card\u003c\/em\u003e, which might be the avant-pop record of the year.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDriven by a desire for sonic collage and bolstered by lateral thinking, \u003cem\u003ePunch Card\u003c\/em\u003e is a crafty lesson in how, with touches of masterful manipulation, the collision of opposing forces can cause sparks to fly and an irrepressible need to dance. “Our aim is to undermine anything leaning too far one way or the other. We shoot for homogeneity - if it sounds good and its component parts can't be pulled out, we’ve matched the job description,” they say of finding balance in their desire to ‘pull the rug’ musically whenever listeners least expect it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMuch like the typo in their name, now proudly worn by the band as a badge of honour, the result is an album of happy accidents that truly embody their audiences’ visceral knee-jerk reactions. The cut-out windows of an eighties protocomputer punch card that line the sleeve offer a portal into Formal Sppeedwear’s universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter signing with melodic in 2023, the trio’s now sold out 2024 debut EP - a self-titled, self-produced 12” sample of elastic bass arrangements, leaping guitar motifs and sparse, un-assuming percussive work - picked up notable fans at BBC 6 Music and helped to secure shows around the country with the likes of Fat Dog, Preoccupations, Warmduscher and Divorce. A legion of listeners grew, barraging Instagram DMs curious to unearth the mystery behind their idiosyncratic, off-kilter lyrics – usually a product of Beck’s phonetically-associated wordplay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProlific in their output, the band diligently produced \u003cem\u003ePunch Card \u003c\/em\u003ethemselves with mastering from Paul D. Millar (Slug Bug). Led by a preference for sonic variety, they even discarded three tracks not belonging on the record; not because they didn’t fit - but because they did. Through their boomerang voice notes and a sense of telepathy that only college friends bonded by Neu! and Yellow Magic Orchestra could possess, they explain; “There’s definitely a subconscious level to what we do but it’s always driven by what works sonically. The real challenge becomes how to recreate it live.”\u003cbr\u003eBlame those tracks which formed quickly when raw ideas and lyrics flowed from jam sessions in their Tremolo rehearsal room. Jagged, punchy ‘Indecent’ was largely improvised by the trio as a single recorded live take, and ‘The Ballad of DCB’ (avid bookworms in Stoke may have an inkling as to the meaning behind its acronym) was wrangled from a spritely brink of uncertainty after twilight tinkering powered a plethora of jangling guitar lines. Live staple ‘Wait (Hatchet Gets a New Hide) serves as collage of ideas and melodies harking back to the early days of Sppeedwear, completed on a Tascam 488 cassette recorder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut, between joyfully jarring twists and turns, it is a rare moment of wistfulness which offers the biggest hint to the album’s wider \u003cem\u003ePunch Card\u003c\/em\u003e themes. A turning point in the recording process, finale ‘Friedrich Backs Up Nothing’ shimmers with strange atmospheres and sound-manipulated cellos; lyrically considering how history might react to the world today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormal Sppeedwear may look and sound something like pop, but \u003cem\u003ePunch Card\u003c\/em\u003e emerges through collision, constraint, and chance - much like the stamped out geometry that inspired its artwork.\u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor Fans Of: Devo, Talking Heads, XTC, Neu!\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melodic","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":57443582705995,"sku":"R2991-4647","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":57443582738763,"sku":"R2991-6066","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MELO150CD.jpg?v=1779792797"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_95176f73_thumbnail_4096_3e9fef3c-2ea6-473d-81ee-881c8a517484.jpg?v=1726263543","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/melodic.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}