Steve Queralt and Michael Smith's four track EP Sun Moon Town came out last Friday, four ambient/ drone/ soundscapes and spoken word. Steve is the bassist from Ride, Michael a writer whose Hartlepudlian tones will be familiar to people who heard and loved his 2013 Unreal City album with Andrew Weatherall. Sun Moon Town was recorded during lockdown, files bouncing back and forth between the two, the weirdness of those times reflected in the music.
In A Wonderland is twelve minutes long, opening with birdsong and looming drones, Michael musing about waking up and having to face the day. A few minutes in Michael's young son provides a counter voice, reading a Lewis Carroll poem. Steve's music is anything but background, ebbing and flowing and full of ideas and invention. Michael has a tone which is in turn bemused, wearied, piss taking, resigned and occasionally hopeful, somewhere in between poetry and prose. On In A Wonderland he goes on to describe foraging for mushrooms in the woods. Steve's synths turn from ominous to optimistic and a lovely long, slow, twinkling fade.
Love the melancholy of his world view. Everything he does is good. Have you watched any of his documentaries?
ReplyDeleteYes, seen one or two bits on Youtube. There's a very good one about St Leonards with music from WRF
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