Lonely Robot, the project masterminded by producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter John Mitchell (Kino, Frost*, Arena, It Bites), is currently finishing work on their fourth full-length album due out later this Summer.
During the campaign for their acclaimed last album ‘Under Stars’, a full animated film was created by Crystal Spotlight and screened at two very special cinema events in the UK. Now the full visual accompaniment is available to stream, and you can watch it now here: https://youtu.be/slyM9ZUzr6U
John comments: “It has always been an ambition of mine to have a full-length visual accompaniment alongside an album of music I have written. With Under Stars and the help of Miles at Crystal Spotlight, this dream was finally realized last year. I’m very proud of the results and I’d like to thank Miles for all his hard work and patience in bringing this to fruition. I hope you enjoy it.”
‘Under Stars’ featured drums by long-time collaborator Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett), plus bass contributions from Steve Vantsis (Fish). All other instrumentation on the album was performed by Mitchell himself.
John comments on the album: “It is the final part in the astronaut trilogy, and was recorded over an intensive month and a half period. This time I wanted to reference my love of 80s synthwave pop a little more – so beware the 808! The title is derived from the belief that we as humans spend far too much time not noticing the beauty around us and far too much time tethered to technology.”
1. Terminal Earth (1:56)2. Ancient Ascendant (5:47)3. Icarus (5:21)4. Under Stars (5:16)5. Authorship Of Our Lives (5:39)6. The Signal (3:20)7. The Only Time I Don’t Belong Is Now (5:16)8. When Gravity Fails (5:03)9. How Bright Is The Sun? (6:03)10. Inside This Machine (3:28)11. An Ending (2:40) 12. How Bright Is The Sun? (Cosmic Mix) (5:59) * bonus track13. Under Stars (Cosmic Mix) (5:16) * bonus track14. Lonely Robot – Chapter One – Airlock (7:00) * bonus track
‘Under Stars’ was released as a limited edition digipak CD (featuring 3 bonus tracks), gatefold 2LP + CD & as digital album. Order now here: https://lonelyrobot.lnk.to/UnderStars/
Under Stars is the final part in Lonely Robot’s ‘astronaut trilogy’. Musically, the album expands upon its two predecessors and finds a balance between heavy edges and lush choruses (which have been John Mitchell’s trademark since day one). Mitchell says, “This time I wanted to reference my love of 1980s synthwave pop a little more, so beware the 808!”, Mitchell
‘Under Stars’ is the final album in a trilogy for Lonely Robot, John Mitchell’s visionary project. This began in 2015 with the ‘Please Come Home’ album and continued two years later with ”The Big Dream’. “I always saw this as a trilogy, and it feels like the third part of the Lonely Robot master plan has reached a natural conclusion.” As with the two previous albums, there is a theme running across the songs here, as Mitchell explains. “On ‘Please Come Home’, the theme was about the idea that life on Earth didn’t originate from this planet, while for ‘The Big Dream’, I was really giving everyone the benefit of Zen musings according to John Mitchell. This time things are a little more down to earth. What I am doing is looking at the millennial generation, and the fact that kids today are so tied to their phones and to technology. They really have no clue what is actually going on around them, and I find that worrying.”
John Mitchell is a man with a rich musical heritage and history – from musician and vocalist to songwriter and producer. With bands like Arena, Frost*, Kino, It Bites and Lonely Robot, to name but a few, Mitchell has left his mark on the current progressive rock scene and has been involved in dozens of recordings. He is also a respected producer & mixer, running Outhouse Studios in the UK and working with artists as diverse as You Me At Six, Enter Shikari, Alter Bridge, Asia, Don Broco, Funeral For A Friend, McFly & much more.
Caligula’s Horse had previously announced their first ever North American tour, which has unfortunately had to be postponed to January-February 2021. Look out for more details on that soon.
Caligula’s Horse had previously announced their first-ever North American tour, which has, unfortunately, had to be postponed to January-February 2021. Look out for more details on that soon.
Pure Reason Revolution’s first new studio album in nearly 10 years, ‘Eupnea’, is out now. To celebrate the band have launched a video for the track ‘Ghosts & Typhoons’. Watch the Thomas Hicks-created video here:
Jon Courtney comments: “In 2018 Chloe & I chatted in a London café about the notion of reforming Pure Reason Revolution. Although we’ve already done our first live show back, today feels like it’s really real. Close to the heart experience kick-started the genesis & we stuck to our manifesto of creating under no restrictions, no boundaries. The result was ‘Eupnea’ & we hope you like it. “
‘Eupnea’ is available as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP + CD (with etching on Side D) and as a digital album.
Jon Courtney and Chloë Alper recently sat down to discuss the new record and how it came together, and you can watch them chat all things ‘Eupnea’ in this brand new interview: https://youtu.be/QaxajIoO7xs
At the end of January they launched the epic 10-minute ‘Silent Genesis’, a track which Jon Courtney co-wrote alongside original PRR member Greg Jong. Listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/5khMXtZ6YjE
The full track-listing is as follows: 1.New Obsession 05:09 2.Silent Genesis 10:20 3.Maelstrom 05:44 4.Ghosts & Typhoons 08:45 5.Beyond Our Bodies 04:28 6.Eupnea 13:23
Eupnea’, the long-awaited return from the band, sees them harking back to their earliest days, while rolling in all of the musical experiments and experience they’ve gathered in the intervening years.
The cinematic soundscapes of Hammer and Anvil? Check. The dark atmosphere and synths of Amor Vincit Omnia? Check. The gauzy psych-prog of their debut? Ch-check.
It’s sprawling, with three tracks hitting the 10 minute mark and one notching up against 15 minutes. Sure, track length does not equal ambition, but still, it’s quite the statement of intent.
The band currently have two confirmed Summer festival dates, performing at Night Of The Prog Festival in Germany on the 17th of July, and Ramblin Man Fair in the UK on the 18th of July. They will then head out on a co-headline tour with Gazpacho at the end of the year: 16.10 Warsaw (PL), Progresja 17.10 Poznan (PL), U Bazyla 18.10 Berlin (DE), Columbia Theater 20.10 Cologne (DE), Die Kantine 22.10 Zwolle (NL), Hedon 23.10 Breda (NL), Mezz 24.10 Paris (FR), Petit Bain 25.10 London (UK), Islington Assembly Hall
Pure Reason Revolution originally parted ways in November 2011 following touring in support of their 2010 album ‘Hammer and Anvil’. Since then, Jon Courtney started Bullet Height and released their debut album ‘No Atonement’ in 2017, while Chloë Alper began a new band called Tiny Giant as well as playing live with the likes of Charli XCX and James.
The band originally formed back in 2003, releasing their much-loved debut album ‘The Dark Third’ in 2006 via Sony BMG. They went on to release the albums ‘Amor Vincit Omnia’ in 2009 and ‘Hammer and Anvil’ in 2010.
Watch the new Live video “City” by Time’s Forgotten filmed at the band’s come back gig at Jazz Café, San José, Costa Rica. Audio mixed by Juan Pablo Calvo, video edited by Ari Lotringer. Filmed by Jeank Castro.
Winter’s Verge is one of Cyprus’ most successful metal bands. Since its formation in 2005, the band has so far released 4 full studio albums and 3 Eps, and built a strong reputation as one of the most exciting live acts in Cyprus, with a powerful blend of epic, melodic and symphonic metal. The band is made up of 6 of the most experienced and respected musicians in the Cypriot rock and metal scene – George Charalambous on vocals, Deniel Pavlovsky and Savvas Parperi on guitars, Stavry Michael on keys, Miguel Trapezaris on bass and Danny Georgiou on drums.
After 3 years in the making, Winter’s Verge is ready to release one of their most ambitious projects to date, The Ballad of James Tig. With a concept and lyrics by renowned local author and playwright Frixos Masouras, the new album is another concept storyline with a huge sounding scope and symphonic sound that Winter’s Verge fans are sure to love.
Progressive rockers Haken are excited to reveal their new studio album ‘Virus’, the follow-up to 2018’s acclaimed album ‘Vector’, will be released June 5th, 2020. By way of introduction, the band have recorded a special video message to give some background to the record:
Today also sees the launch of the album’s first single and opening track ‘Prosthetic’, with a video directed by Vicente Cordero. Watch & listen to this punchy opening salvo here:
The band comments: “Prosthetic was the first song we completed during the ‘Virus’ writing sessions and we always felt it would be the perfect opener for the album. It’s a very guitar heavy track with its roots in 80s thrash riffing, but with the unconventional rhythmic twists and turns we often like to explore in Haken. We sadly never had a Jeff Hanneman and Robert Fripp collaboration, but this song at least draws on inspiration from them both!
Lyrically the song is a bridge between our two albums Vector and Virus. The message was brilliantly brought to life by video director Vicente Cordero, who also beautifully captured the live energy of the band in a way that both enhances the song, and perfectly sets the scene for what’s to come.”
Since releasing ‘Vector’ in October 2018, Haken have completed headline tours the world over, played sold-out shows across Europe and North America as support for Devin Townsend and picked up a Prog award for their efforts too! All the while, they have been quietly, secretly working on the follow-up album, entitled ‘Virus’.
Drummer Ray Hearne reveals, “since releasing ‘The Mountain’ in 2013, one question has been asked of us time and time again, ‘who is the Cockroach King?’. This is something we were interested in exploring more deeply too, so we essentially did that through our music; elaborating and expanding upon the intervallic, harmonic, rhythmic and lyrical themes of that song. The end result is in an arc which spans across two albums: ‘Vector’ and ‘Virus’”.
Once again, Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood has mixed what is perhaps the most eclectic Haken album to date, with the 7 tracks revealing hints of influences from multiple genres, all intertwined with Haken’s own recognisable sound. Guitarist Richard Henshall had this to say about the production, “Using Nolly again was a no-brainer, as we wanted the two albums to be sonically connected. But having just spent a day mixing with him in his studio, it’s obvious that this album will be an evolution of the ‘Vector’ sound. These songs seem to allow a lot more freedom of creativity with the production, so we’re excited to see where it leads”.
The track-listing is as follows:
1. Prosthetic 2. Invasion 3. Carousel 4. The Strain 5. Canary Yellow 6. Messiah Complex i: Ivory Tower 7. Messiah Complex ii: A Glutton for Punishment 8. Messiah Complex iii: Marigold 9. Messiah Complex iv: The Sect 10. Messiah Complex v: Ectobius Rex 11. Only Stars
Longtime Haken collaborators, Blacklake, have designed the visuals and artwork and the album will be available as a Limited 2CD, Standard CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album. Pre-order now here: https://haken.lnk.to/Virus
‘Virus’ is the culmination of a musical thought experiment which started with the ‘Vector’ writing sessions in 2017 and holds intriguing potential for the band’s future, as vocalist Ross Jennings explains, “whilst ‘Virus’ can absolutely be enjoyed as a stand-alone work, it is thematically and conceptually linked with ‘Vector’, so our intention is to perform both albums back to back for a special performance someday”.
HAKEN IS Ross Jenning Richard Henshall Charlie Griffiths Diego Tejeida Conner Green Ray Hearne
Los Angeles, CA – Legendary German industrial pioneers Die Krupps meet up with Goth n Roll icon Jyrki69, vocalist of the Helsinki vampire rock band 69 Eyes for a brilliant rendition of The Neon Judgement’s 80’s classic “Chinese Black.”
Feverish and pensive, this video perfectly captures this new recording. With paranoia surrounding the uncertainty of the current pandemic, Die Krupps and Jyrki have delivered the perfect soundtrack.
The duo also teamed up with renowned video director Vicente Cordero (Not My God, Skold, 3Teeth) to deliver a PSA to all of the quarantined guys and ghouls around the world.
“Chinese Black” will be available on all digital platforms everywhere starting April 6TH 2020. The track will also appear on the forthcoming Die Krupps album for Cleopatra Records.
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