Wallsend Weekend Television

Novelty Island follow up their stunning debut How Are You Coping With This Century? with Wallsend Weekend Television on Nine x Nine Records. Novelty Island is the bizarre-pop project of Liverpool-based songwriter / producer, Tom McConnell. Wallsend Weekend Television is an album that has been a long time coming. The tracks that appear on it serve up as an almost best of McConnell’s musical career so far. In 2018 he made the ultimate pilgrimage from his native north to Abbey Road Institute with over numerous songs from various projects in hand. This is where Novelty Island was born, inspired by classic pop, woozy electronica and northern wordplay. McConnell would record in session at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 and in Abbey Road Studios 2 and 3, where students at the Institute had to make notes on recording techniques. This gave McConnell the freedom to explore and create the album. Whittled down from 80 songs and an almost infinite combination of track listings, it has driven him mad at many points. So much so that McConnell returned to Liverpool where he wrote, recorded and released his one-man band debut album, How Are You Coping With This Century? along with dreamy videos, sculptures, and a never-ending Instagram.