The first new release of 2026 to get excited about is out now on Jason Boardman's before I Die Records, a 12" from Stockport and a duo called Arrival- two tracks, each with a remix and involving two of my most listened to guitarists of the last year, Kevin McCormick and Thought Leadership.
Arrival deal in quietness and calm, something we could all do with at the moment. On the A- side there is One, six minutes of pattering rhythms, soft bass and Kevin's wonderful and melancholic guitar lines. The Underbank Mix (named after a part of Stockport, old Victorian lanes and streets, staircases and bridges, which is becoming a centre for art and culture with cafes, record shops and bars). The second version is the Solstice Mix, which opens with ambient and found sounds, voices and the clatter of people, and then Kevin's guitar echoes out of the ambient backdrop. It's quiet and atmospheric, like listening to a live performance in a cafe on a Sunday afternoon while taking shelter from the rain.
Side B offers Common Place with a Thought Leadership Remix, more atmospheric ambient guitar sounds. Slow music, unfolding at its pace. A drum machine turns up eventually, the thud of a kick drum and then some hi hats. Synths add some colour and the guitar continues to wind its way onwards. On the non- remix version of Common Place the guitar is even more in the foreground, chords and notes with some distortion, surrounded by an ambient haze. Single of the year so far and highly recommended. Stockport on the rise, quietly. Get it at Bandcamp.
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