Description
The latest chapter in The Telescopes‘ idiosyncratic exploration of sound combines hallucinatory ballads with transcendent melodies, clanging, and lo-fi buzzes, with a substantial amount of crushing and sound degradation. The result is an album radiating a dark and abrasive, yet ethereal energy.
Created entirely independently by Stephen Lawrie in a remote cottage in West Yorkshire between January to May 2022, the record was made with broken toys and cheap synths – mostly Pocket Operators and miniature synths, with no guitars present. The complexity of sound rests within the simplicity of the composition and musical arrangements.
The bonus remixes are two divergent interpretations by Black Market Karma and Mosaic Runes, both artists deploying their own respective skill sets and aura. The former with unfurling guitars and live drums, spreading a magnetic warmth and charm. The latter returning to the cryptic spectres haunting the record, drawing out the hidden spirit of broken equipment and infusing the tracks with their signature fractured ice.
The Telescopes‘ music has constantly pushed its own boundaries. The music overlaps many genres following its own inspiration-led course. Time has shown The Telescopes‘ music not only withstands repeated listening but also reveals something new whenever one ventures between the grooves. It has been described by the music press as “more a revolution of the psyche than a revolution of the sidewalk”; a thread consistent throughout a body of work spanning over 30 years.
