Atomise

The twelve new songs by this London/Aarhus based alt-folk-leftfield rock band reflect upon an atmosphere of division and unrest that currently weighs our society down. However, John Elliott's lyrics seek to explore those little pools of light in the darkness; moments of real connection, meaning, and magic amidst all the chaos.

Atomise was written through the late summer of 2018. Elliott shut himself away from the outside world in a remote rural Pembrokeshire cottage. Demos were recorded solo in the same cottage on an old upright piano. These demos were later taken to the band’s North London studio where Tim Heymerdinger played drums, and John added further instrumentation with recording engineer Sonny Johns (Fatoumata Diawara, Portico Quartet) at the helm.

Many of John’s skeletal demos were maintained in the final recording sessions as their distinct solitary mood, complete with creaking piano keys and nearby birdsong, had captured something very special. The Little Unsaid violist Alison D’Souza assembled a string quartet in Stoke Newington’s 16th-century church to lay down the string parts on Atomise. The final mix was created in Oxford by composer and orchestrator Graeme Stewart, whose credits include film music with Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead).