Friday 29 May 2009

MAY ROUND UP & HURTS

Weather has been great for the past few todays and to make it even better I came across a new band formed from the ashes of Daggers called HURTS. This is their track Wonderful Life, I love it and can't stop watching the video. The dancing reminds of something from the Tears for Fears 'Mad World' video.



Also really enjoying the new IAMX album "Kingdom of Welcome Addiction"

So what has been happened in our little world?

I've started assembling a collection of sounds for new material plus buying a few new bits of gear. I'm disappearing for a few weeks at the end of June to our Spanish retreat. I have bought the KORG nano key, a tiny USB keyboard so I'm planning to write some new things whilst away. I'm sure the views will inspire something but the alcohol might impede any good ideas, we'll see.

Obviously we don't have the innconvience of having to tour for a year to promote our album so we can get back into writing again. However we don't want to continue where WIRED: left off as we want there to be a distinct evolution in our style.

The next release is currently named NK#3, not sure if this will be an album or EP, depends on what it sounds like, how long it takes to complete and if it's any good of course.

We heard the remix for Crash by Parralox today and it's pretty cool, this will go with the great remix of Crash that Oblique have also done along with our extended version. More news on this soon.

That's it for now.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

MEGALOMANIAC...

... I'm not but I did think this was a really great review of WIRED:

How is Northern Kind like an origami flower? Both unfold with exquisite beauty and grace. Like a blossoming flower, Northern Kind's music exhibits an effortlessness and naturalness that evokes feelings of awe. Imagine Vince Clarke's technical wizardry infused with feminine intuition. Northern Kind has an uncanny knack for synths. They bring such an attentive, sensitive touch to their keyboard work that one imagines them wearing velvet gloves in the studio. If you love lush soundscapes coupled with intricate programming, you'll be in shimmering heaven. The vocals are also stunning. Imagine the tonal purity of Annie Lennox, the forcefulness of Sinead O'Connor, and the sultriness of Billie Ray Martin. The big question is whether Northern Kind's new album "Wired:" is a worthy follow-up to "Fifty Three Degrees." Do the new songs compare with the brilliance of such powerhouses as "On & On," "The Other Side," "You Belong," and "Seen the Light"? The answer is simple: just listen to the sublimely baroque melodies of "Automatic," the sumptuous production of "Pop," and the instantly catchy hooks of "Pleasurely That Machine." Northern Kind are still virtuosos. They're an A in my book.

--Craig Conley, author of ONE-LETTER WORDS: A DICTIONARY (HarperCollins)
http://www.OneLetterWords.com

Clearly a man of many words, I think I will ask him to write our future press releases.

Anticipation of DM at the O2.

It would appear that Dave Gahan's condition is more severe than what we are led to believe. Cancer whilst obviously serious is probably not the reason which some of the rumors suggest, Why? Well insurance companies that underwrite tours of such magnitude require very thorough medical examinations to be undertaken. I'm sure the screening process would catch anything as serious as cancer.

What I can piece together from a couple of sources is that it's more likely Dave appears to have slipped back into his old ways. This is something personally I hope is true more than any other rumor that is circulating. Why? because this is something that he can naturally and quickly recover from with help and support.

Whatever the reason I really hope they get it back together again soon.

Tuesday 19 May 2009

EY5 PICS

Some of the pics from our album launch @ EY5. Thanks to everyone who made it we had a great time.





Wednesday 13 May 2009

CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG

Our UK tour support slot is with Kajagoogoo. The band have reformed in their original line-up with Limahl.

Kajagoogoo were one of the first bands I ever saw and I have been a huge fan of their White Feathers album since first hearing it in 1983.

I met and briefly worked with Limahl in the early nineties when he was recording his "Love is blind" album and now we have been invited to join them on their reunion tour.

Dates in September are:

17th o2 Academy, Liverpool
18th The Ferry, Glasgow
22nd Campus Academy, Sunderland
23rd The Waterfront, Norwich
25th The Robin, Wolverhampton
26th The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
27th Sin City, Swansea
30th Islington o2 Academy, London

October

1st The Brook, Southampton

Sunday 10 May 2009

DEMO #2

Is INTO THE BLUE

This one is quite different, one of those tracks where I hear something else and really have to de-construct the track to get there. I think this song probably took the longest to complete.

CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO

Saturday 9 May 2009

JASMINE DOING A RMX

YOU DECIDE

For true interactivity the first person to respond to this post will get to choose the next demo from WIRED:

So which one would you like to hear?

Friday 8 May 2009

DEMOS

In the process of clearing out my current machine ready for the upgrade. So over the next few weeks I thought I would share with you some of the demo's from WIRED:

Todays is Automatic, this started out not to dissimilar from the final version but some of the other demos coming are quite different.

Matt

CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO