The Fat Angel Sings

It took mere months, following the death of Ian Curtis in May 1980, for Joy Division’s Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris to regroup, with a new name – New Order – a new member, Gillian Gilbert, and a new set of songs. In this new (re)incarnation they bestrode the 80s like a colossus, propelled by new ideas and newer technology.

By the time New Order released this, their fifth album, they were already the masters of fusing post-punk guitars with the beats they picked up in clubs around the world. In some respects, then, ‘Technique’, was business as usual from Sumner, Hook and co. But rather than looking to the warehouses of New York or German synthrock, they turned to Ibiza for inspiration, and the club nights where they heard Acid house alongside novelty pop, Queen and homegrown Spanish tunes.

The resulting album, partly recorded on the island at Peter Hook’s insistence after a series of records made in dark, London basements, is the sound of a band leaving behind their old selves to tread new ground and move beyond the confines of what a four-or-five piece guitar band could achieve.

This is the album that New Order recorded in Ibiza. Obviously, it bears the mark of some of the island’s chemical distractions. ‘Fine Time’, ‘Mr Disco’ and ‘Round & Round’ feature electronic percussion, heady four AM atmospheres and synth experimentation – though the latter count is more in the realm of “electronic sheep baa’s” and “orchestra stabs” than Delia Derbyshire-esque gauntlet-pushing.

Although ‘Technique’ is widely known as the Ibiza album, it’s more indie-disco than Balearic rave. This is fast and exciting music positioned somewhere between Felt and David Bowie’s ‘Berlin’ trilogy. It has Bernard Sumner’s trademark off-key sing-song vocals and includes two of New Order’s greatest achievements in ‘Fine Time’ and ‘All the Way’. ‘Technique’ is the honeymoon period in New Order’s stormy marriage of dance and rock.

While the other great Manchester album of 1989, The Stone Roses is credited with ushering in Madchester, ‘Technique’ was no less influential, and 35 years on sounds as fresh and vital as it ever did. It’s a short record too, its brevity part of its brilliance. Don’t pick one or two songs to listen to, dive right in to the whole thing.

As the post-punk dust began to settle, a particular strand of artist began applying a knowingly distant, colder aesthetic to their work. While much of the scene began to be dominated by bigger budget, commercially minded former punk and new wave acts, a darker undercurrent did survive, often more interesting, more dangerous and sexier than anything that could be heard on Top Of The Pops at the time. The first generation of the darkwave movement consisted of bands that were equally influenced by the fractured drama of Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure as they were by the art damaged experimentation of Cabaret Voltaire, Wire and Throbbing Gristle, always rich in Gothic spirt, societal displacement, urban isolation and sexual energy.

‘No Songs Tomorrow’ collects together the true progenitors and risk takers of this Venn diagram scene, each of whom set forth in uncharted territory in the post-punk minefield, expressing parts of themselves others dare not in the truest and darkest of fashions. From familiar names to underground gems and collectables, and painting with a broad international palette, this might be considered a companion piece to several of our previous offerings, ‘Silhouettes And Statues’, ‘Close to The Noise Floor’, ‘Still In A Dream’ and ‘Cherry Stars Collide’ among them.

We recommend late night listening, either home alone or dripping with sweat on a rotting dancefloor.

Nilufer Yanya just announced that she’s signed to Ninja Tune and there’s a new single to go along with the news. I’m liking the 90s-lean that’s on display here.

Nilüfer Yanya returns with her new single and music video “Like I Say (I runaway).” This offering is her first new music since the release of her celebrated 2022 album “Painless” and announces her signing to Ninja Tune. The new single is a glowing example of Yanya’s authenticity and innate creativity that effortlessly flows from pen to paper and is a first taste of more music to come. 

“Like I Say (I runaway)” comes alongside a music video directed by Yanya’s sister Molly Daniel that features Nilüfer as a runaway bride. The song highlights chunky, distorted guitar crunches under a chorus loosely reminiscent of 90’s alternative radio. The single focuses on the moment when you realise how precious time is. Speaking more about the single’s thesis Nilüfer shares, “It’s about how you choose to spend your time. Time is like a currency, every moment. You’re never going to get it back. It’s quite an overwhelming thing to realise.” 

The new single was written in collaboration with Yanya’s creative partner, Wilma Archer (Sudan Archives, MF DOOM, Celeste), with whom she’s previously collaborated on “Painless” and her debut album “Miss Universe“. Throughout their creative process, a clear emphasis was placed on forming a safe musical space where creative impulses were encouraged and all perceived musical boundaries were eroded. This same process is reflected in the song’s lyrics, which emphasise unrestricted artistry and standing firm in one’s truest self as Yanya attempts to make sense of the world around her. 

Singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy winner Delilah Montagu shares “Orange,” a patiently unfolding benediction that finds peace and closure in a mismatched relationship. As the song’s gentle momentum builds, Delilah recounts a flood of memories — odd tattoos, magical pets, the colour preferences of parents — with poetic economy and a generous, empathetic delivery. It’s that rare beast: a gracious breakup song.

Says Delilah: “I wrote ‘Orange’ about my first love. Loving someone but also understanding that you can’t exist in each other’s worlds is a painful realization, and I tried to put it into a song. ‘I was a bird, and you were a fish, we couldn’t breathe together like this.’ The song is also about reassuring the person that even though you don’t ever talk, you’re always thinking of them with love and that they will always be with you everywhere you go.”

Created by Delilah alongside director and artist Peter Cerrito, the “Orange” music video captures the uncomfortable intimacy of a breakup — as well as that feeling of freedom and expanding horizons that comes when you allow yourself to be vulnerable and share your true feelings.

“Orange” appears on Delilah’s new EP entitled “The Bird”, due out June 14th. The first in a series of upcoming releases, “The Bird” showcases Delilah’s pairing of vulnerable reckonings and symphonic, sumptuous soundworlds. 

Guided by the classic folk, blues, and country music that floods the southern soundscape, and shaped by her self-taught finger-picking style, Leigh’s music is an eclectic glimpse into feeling stuck in all of life’s in-betweens. Here’s a really catchy number from Odie Leigh, whose debut album, “Carrier Pigeon“, is set to be released on July 12th.

Every song is like a little unsent letter and carrier pigeon is delivering it….

Leigh’s first EP, “How Did It Seem to You?”, in 2022, about a situationship gone wrong. Recorded everywhere from Louisiana to Miami, “that first EP was born out of desperation to feel heard and be connected,” she says. “Releasing that EP is probably like one of the scariest things I’ve ever done because it was just so real and embarrassing. All of my music is stuff I would never say out loud.”

In 2023, Odie Leigh dropped her second, EP, “The Only Thing Worse Than a Woman Who Lies Is a Girl Who’ll Tell Truths”, which was recorded in the woods of Tennessee. “That second project was definitely like the edgier, angrier step up from: I’m a girl that makes folk music,” she says.

Singer-songwriter Odie Leigh has announced the release of her debut album, “Carrier Pigeon”, arriving via Mom + Pop Records. Produced by Bay Area producer/musician/engineer Derek Ted and Odie Leigh “Carrier Pigeon” is heralded by the new single, “Conversation Starter”.

“I am not a relationship girlie,” says Odie Leigh. “The ‘talking stage’ of courting always made me feel awkward and stupid, I just want to skip to the good part. With ‘Conversation Starter’ I tried to capture the feeling of playing the hottest, most cool-girl version of yourself to hide the fact that we’re all so awkward and insecure and it’s just so incredibly scary to get to know someone and let them get to know you. 

“There’s a part of me that seeks conflict so I can just get it over with and enjoy a little drama before getting too invested (I’m good at turning nothing to tragedy / I’d rather get burnt now / I’ll light a fire just to snuff it out) but I also really like this person, so much that I’m almost regretting getting involved and wishing we were just friends because I cannot imagine a world in which it doesn’t blow up… but I’m in too deep. But also, this song isn’t not just about sexting.”

On the album, Odie Leigh notes: “I wanted to call it “Carrier Pigeon” because as I was writing these songs I just kept on thinking how silly it is that I’m writing all these thoughts and feeling down about someone and for someone who is only going to hear it months if not years after I write it,” she says. “I was like ‘I might as well be putting letters in bottles and throwing them into the ocean or just strapping it to a pigeon and hoping it lands at the right house.’ This album is the carrier pigeon and the songs are the messages.”

“Carrier Pigeon” is further preceded by recent releases, “Either Way” and “No Doubt,”

Illuminati Hotties vocalist Sarah Tudzin has found the perfect solution to getting out their music: launching their very own label.

Illuminati Hotties announced their new label Snack Shack Tracks, which is an imprint of Hopeless Records. “I’m incredibly stoked to be partnering with Hopeless Records on my own imprint, Snack Shack Tracks! With everything that has brought me to where I am, I knew that the next time around I needed to seek support from folks who trusted me — who believed not only in illuminati hotties, but also in myself, and my curative vision as a creator at large. Hopeless is the perfect collaborator for IH and beyond. I am thrilled, grateful, and looking forward to an expansive future for the music that we’re all total nerds about!”

The official music video for the new single “Can’t Be Still” out now on Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless Records!

On the heels of a year that found them releasing a new album “The Feminine Divine” and embarking upon a successful tour in support of the LP, Dexys are on the cusp of doing it all over again.

This time, however, the new album is a live effort that spotlights the aforementioned studio LP while also offering additional tracks from the band’s extensive discography, including such hits as “Come on Eileen” and “Geno.” And, yes, they’ll be touring behind this one as well, including a stop at Glastonbury.

While the band happily plays songs from their back catalogue, frontman Kevin Rowland has been – and remains – very vocal about his complete and total interest in taking part in nostalgia tours that involve falling back almost exclusively on the old hits.

“It’s all about the new stuff,” Rowland said of the band’s 2023 tour “I mean, we’re happy to play the old stuff, otherwise we wouldn’t play it. But it’s really all about the new stuff. Sometimes fans want to just relive 1980 or 1981 or 1982, and that’s not what we’re about. They don’t get it. But I understand they probably had some great time around then. It was a free time in their lives or whatever, but our job is to keep moving forward. You can’t recreate the past anyway, so why try?

“Even the old ones, the way we’ll be performing them is Dexys, as we are now, performing the old stuff,” Rowland continued. “We’re not trying to recreate 1982. We might change tempo a little bit, or few bits and pieces, lyrics, but we realize that, at the same time, people like those songs and they want to hear them, so we don’t massively change them too much.”

Scheduled for release on May 24th, “The Feminine Divine + Dexys Classics: Live!” was recorded during the band’s 2023 tour and features 19 tracks.

The first half of the LP features the entirety of The Feminine Divine, while the second half offers 10 songs from throughout the band’s back catalogue, including tracks from 1980’s “Searching for the Young Soul Rebels”, 1982’s “Too-Rye-Ay”, 2012’s “One Day I’m Going to Soar”, and 2016’s “Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul”.

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour will release a new studio album called “Luck and Strange” in September. The guitarist and songwriter’s fifth solo long-player was recorded over five months in Brighton and London and is Gilmour’s first album of new material in nine years. David co-produced with ALT-J’s Charlie Andrew and Marika Hackman, with lyrics mostly written by Polly Samson.

Of this new working relationship, David says, “We invited Charlie to the house, so he came and listened to some demos, and said things like, “Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there?” and “Do they all fade out? Can’t some of them just end?”. He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine. He’s very direct and not in any way overawed, and I love that. That is just so good for me because the last thing you want is people just deferring to you.”

“Between Two Points” is the latest single from David Gilmour’s forthcoming album, “Luck and Strange” (out 6th September). The track – a reworking of The Montgolfier Brothers’ 1999 original – features David’s daughter Romany on vocals and harp. Watch the track’s music video now and listen on streaming services.

Musicians contributing to the record include Guy Pratt and Tom Herbert on bass; Adam Betts, Steve Gadd and Steve DiStanislao on drums; Rob Gentry and Roger Eno on keyboards; and the string and choral arrangements are by Will Gardner.

The album features eight new tracks along with a beautiful reworking of The Montgolfier Brothers’ ‘Between Two Points’, which sees Romany Gilmour, who performs backing vocals across the album, on vocals and harp . The title track also features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, recorded in 2007 during a ‘Barn Jam’ at David’s house.

The album is available on vinyl, CD with two extra tracks and a blu-ray audio with four bonus tracks. All 13 tracks on the blu-ray are available in Dolby Atmos and 96/24 hi-res stereo.

The album’s cover image, photographed and designed by renowned artist Anton Corbijn, is inspired by lyrics written by Charlie Gilmour for the album’s final song ‘Scattered’.

“Luck and Strange” will be released on 6th September 2024 via Sony Music.

“Following the release of “Everything Harmony”, which garnered acclaim from Questlove, Iggy Pop and countless others, The Lemon Twigs — the New York City rock band fronted by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario — have once again captured the attention of the music listening public. They are in their premature “comeback” stage, and coming back this early has its benefits; the brothers have the energy of 24- and 26- year-olds, plus the experience and songwriting chops of seasoned musicians, having recorded their first album, “Do Hollywood”, nearly a decade ago at ages 15 and 17.

Set for release less than a year after their last album, “A Dream Is All We Know” is a joyous affair. As the title suggests, it’s less of a sober look at the darker side of life, and more a hopeful sojourn into the realm of dreams. The tone has shifted away from dreary melancholic ballads and moody power pop. Brian and Michael are revisiting their 1968 sound. This album feels closely related to “Do Hollywood“, but their song writing and recording techniques have vastly improved over the course of five albums.”

The true test of originality for any musician comes when you hear an instrument being played and you instantly know who’s playing it. For electric guitarists, certainly Hendrix qualifies; Page and Clapton, too. Maybe Eddie Van Halen before the legion of imitators. You probably have your own list, but to us, standing toe-to-toe (or pick-to-pick) with those legends is Television guitarist and solo artist Tom Verlaine. His self-taught, jazz-influenced style, largely devoid of effects, and vibrato tone (oh, that tone!) makes any Verlaine solo unmistakably a Verlaine solo. That he was quite an accomplished, idiosyncratic songwriter is just a bonus. Real Gone Music is very, very proud to announce that we have arranged with the Verlaine estate to release Tom’s last three solo albums on LP, starting with his 1992 instrumental masterpiece “Warm and Cool”, which has never been released on vinyl in the U.S.

Swirling within this album’s 14 compositions are hints of rock, jazz, country, surf, and even a little bit of the guitar noir found on Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtracks for David Lynch, all given brilliant new life in a fresh mastering for vinyl by long-time Verlaine collaborator Patrick Derivaz, who also played bass on the album. Simultaneously avant-garde and familiar-sounding, “Warm and Cool” is as contemporary and forward-thinking as any music coming out today.

Tom Verlaine’s 1992 instrumental masterpiece “Warm and Cool” — first ever vinyl release in the U.S.! Swirling within this album’s 14 compositions are hints of rock, jazz, country, surf, and even a little bit of the guitar noir found on Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtracks for David Lynch, all given brilliant new life in a fresh mastering for vinyl by long-time Verlaine collaborator Patrick Derivaz, who also played bass on the album.

Simultaneously avant-garde and familiar-sounding, “Warm and Cool” is as contemporary and forward-thinking as any music coming out today, but—as the new liner notes by Verlaine’s life partner Jutta Koether point out—the album fits into a larger modern art and philosophical context. Indeed, reading Koether’s poetic love letter to her dear departed and listening to this gorgeous, daring music makes for a profound experience we are eager to share. Pink vinyl pressing to go with the artful choice of type hue on the front cover!