Dystopian, electric, hopeful, hopeless and thoughtful
Britain’s The Gorstey Lea Street Choir have shared the new video for ‘Up With The Larks’ from their 8-track album ‘…from Prince’s Park to Farsley – Volume I’ via Britain’s 500 Broadcast Recording Co. This track features Paul Cooper (The Great Divide) on piano and legendary producer George Shilling (Blur, Primal Scream, Cathal Coughlan, Teenage Fanclub) on cello.
Earlier, the band previewed the psych-gaze single ‘Bluebird, Hollywood… Domino’ and powerpop delight ‘That Chitty Bang Majik’.
The Gorstey Lea Street Choir are Michael Clapham and Russ Phillips, two friends whose musical collaboration is rooted in a friendship that blossomed over 35 years ago. Having met in the mid-’80s, it took until 2016 for them to realize their teenage plans – discussed back when both were involved in aspiring Manchester bands – with the birth of this project.
Their music runs with the moods, widely described as dystopian, electric, hopeful, hopeless and thoughtful… The sort of sounds Henry Spencer would have played if he had a Sony Walkman. The album explores such themes as being isolation, lack of communication, escapism and Carpe Diem frustration.
Recorded at the Gorstey Shack and Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton with producer Gavin Monaghan (Robert Plant, Editors, Ocean Colour Scene, Scott Matthews, Squeeze, Goldblade), this album was mastered by RIDE‘s Mark Gardener at OX4 Sound Studio in Oxford. Tracks 5-8 were mixed by legendary producer George Shilling (Blur, Primal Scream, Cathal Coughlan, Teenage Fanclub) and re-imagined by Choque Hosein of Black Star Liner.
‘… from Prince’s Park to Farsley – Volume I’ is a tale of two towns, conceived and mainly recorded in Burntwood with 4 songs re-imagined in Farsley. ‘Prince’s Park’ in Burntwood, Staffordshire (the Gorstey boys’ hometown) is the starting point in this journey, registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the UK’s smallest park. Farsley, Yorkshire is where Choque Hosein is based… you can hear his genius on 4 tracks here.
‘…from Prince’s Park to Farsley – Volume I’ is the follow up to the duo’s ‘extended play one’ album, which was released in December 2020 and received support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, and a whole host of DAB and worldwide radio stations.
In 2018, Russ and Michael entered Wolverhampton’s Magic Garden studios to work with old friend and producer legend Gavin Monaghan, resulting in their debut single ‘The British Isles’ featuring an inspired spoken-word intro from Joe Strummer. Chris Hawkins from BBC Radio 6 Music picked up on the track, kicking things off again after a 35-year hiatus.
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