Hotel Lux / Hands Across The Creek

Hotel Lux announce their debut album Hands Across The Creek, due for release 27.01.23 via The state51 Conspiracy, and release new single Common Sense.

Check out the Common Sense video below.

Early, clattering pub-rock singles had received widespread acclaim for the Portsmouth/London band, but “there was always that little voice in your head,” says bassist Cam. The anxieties were hardly quelled when the band’s big break in America proved a non-starter in 2020 after SXSW Festival was cancelled. With touring off the cards, the dream of releasing an album was what kept them going – even though it took “a long time” and “a lot of arguments” before they settled on a sound to call their own. But with new guitarist Max bringing a “harsher, more tone-y Telecaster sound” with him in 2020, the roots of Hotel Lux’s transformation were soon in place. The band’s classic influences — Dr Feelgood, The Stranglers and Ian Dury — meshed with the sounds of artists like Neil Young, Brian Eno and The Waterboys as Hotel Lux spread their wings while remaining faithful to their roots.

The band then decamped to The Wirral, near Liverpool, where they found further inspiration in the marina, the local Morrisons and a producer and kindred spirit in Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral; Arctic Monkeys; Yard Act) — who also contributed piano to the record. It was here that the band’s multi-faceted influences, £20 Casio keyboards and experimentation with omnichords, violins and marauding song structures finally fell into place. With rich emotional peaks matching the band’s signature self-effacing wit, and as many jangling guitars as there are squiggling organ hooks, the results have proven emphatic.

Hands Across The Creek is now available to preorder in 12" blue smoke vinyl.

The band have also announced their UK & EU tour. Pre-order the LP now to receive exclusive access to pre-sale tickets. You will receive a link to the pre-sale tickets via email once your order has been confirmed. General sale begins 28th September 2022.

 

Steve Jansen & Maiya Hershey / Neither Present Nor Absent

Steve Jansen and Maiya Hershey share new single Neither Present Nor Absent out via The state51 Conspiracy.

In Neither Present Nor Absent industrial sounds slowly expand then flow into a wash of deeply layered, metallic textures which gamelan melodies weave within, as the track builds into a choir-like crescendo of bells and drone sounds.

Steve Jansen, the English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer, is best known for his work with the art pop band Japan and subsequent solo works. Maiya Hershey is Portugal-based audiovisual artist and sound designer whose interest in anthropology and philosophy forms part of her creative process. The duo’s musical collaboration and accompanying single is a work meant to expand upon its title and their mutual interest in experimenting with sonic techniques and exploring their connectedness with identity and the past. 
 

New single Neither Present Nor Absent is part of the album under the same name which will be released on vinyl in October, 2022. The album is still available to pre-order in a 12” heavyweight black vinyl. 

 

AGAAMA / WANDERING WORLDS

AGAAMA released new EP WANDERING WORLDS, out via The state51 Conspiracy.

WANDERING WORLDS acts as an exploration of space and journey, moving through internal worlds from fear towards love and then meditating on this experience: “I grew up listening to a lot of angsty, heavy music – metal, dubstep, prog rock and bass music. I wanted to make something where you could explore angst and frustration,” AGAAMA explains. “I found that having a space to release angst within music was healthy and helpful on my path toward healing. I really wanted to incorporate this brooding, meditative, almost primal thing that hooked me into music.”

"A masterclass in tension and release, Birmingham singer-producer AGAAMA fuses widescreen Björk-like beats with volcanic, bubbling brass, her voice sweeping from spoken-word stillness to swollen emotion" -  The Guardian 

"Wandering Worlds, finds her stepping into an increasingly experimental realm, with juddering basslines, cascading electronics and warm brushes of horns. Her vocal harmonies flit between bold and rich and something more intangible and wispy. Introspective but hopeful, it’s an enveloping, generous listen that feels full of promise" - The Observer 

Watch the hypnotic video for recent single Blackbox Oracle below.

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