Yesterday Was Lived and Lost

the cd includes three special artwork prints recreating the 12" single cover arts. 'yesterday was lived and lost' is the first album by new build, a band formed in london in 2011. the album is released on the band's own imprint lanark recordings. new build comprises three core members: al doyle, felix martin and tom hopkins. al doyle is the lyricist and 'voice' of the band. he plays with hot chip and the now-retired lcd soundsystem. he is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, percussion, strings, and steel pans. felix martin, a fellow member of hot chip, is a musician, producer and dj. tom hopkins is a studio engineer and electronic composer who has worked with a number of musicians at lanark studios. 'yesterday was lived and lost' is the meeting point for some pretty strange and varied ideas. these are by and large pop songs, both bold and intimate, which draw inspiration from the eccentricities of artists such as the human league, peter gabriel, robert wyatt, chris and cosey, cabaret voltaire and eno. new build tap into these peculiarly english quirks - odd ideas and impulses, sometimes even in conflict, somehow summed into winning pop formulas. their songs are sinuous, propulsive, well tempered, and though each has its own peculiar character, they are united by an obscure, ultimately bleak lyrical vision. in part 'yesterday was lived and lost' utilises the building blocks and sound of house and techno music. there are some echoes of james murphy's lcd productions, particularly in doyle's super-tight disco guitar riffs, and others of the london house scene that has been a constant inspiration for hot chip over the years, alongside a solid grounding in the techno music which hopkins introduced to his bandmates when they worked together at warp records. the refuge of companionship, society and love are all concerns in these songs, with doyle's vocals frequently multilayered and mixed with those of fellow northerner janine rostron (planningtorock), the bolton born vocalist and producer who has been a close friend and collaborator with new build for several years. however, in opposition to these upbeat and harmonious elements are lyrics preoccupied with loneliness, addiction and failed relationships. the album opener 'medication' is an outwardly exuberant pop song, but the slightly manic chorus refrain betrays a distrust of easy chemical solutions and the tangled web that they can spin. likewise, 'misery loves company' gives voice to the devil on doyle's shoulder, 'raising merry hell' and threatening to 'pick him apart' - all set to a crashing euphoric amalgamation of drums and bass. elsewhere, tenderness is often to be found hand in hand with something darker. the heady melodies of 'miranda' are anchored to a heavy bass synthesiser thud, while the lyrics and sentiment draw inspiration from the unashamed (and sometimes even desperate) romantic appeals of phil oakey. there is also genuine, fleeting euphoria - 'behind the shutter' capturing something of the exuberance and sheer joy in creativity to be found on certain eno albums from the mid-1970s, and setting it to a bouncing techno rhythm section. ultimately, 'yesterday was lived and lost' does promise a kind of redemption and in 'finding reasons' the message seems clear - happiness is to be found in abandoning oneself to music, to rhythm and naked creativity. here at last is freedom from the disconnectedness of modern life and the sheer weight of memory, desire and regret - a musical utopia which gradually emerges into a crescendo of soaring guitars and percussion, before receding back into calm like the tide on some faraway beach. rough trade east in-store - new build - thursday 3rd march, 7pm