Catching up…
It’s been a little while between news posts but there’s still been plenty going on. While things have been a little quiet for Heligoland in the last few months, all of us have been been busy with music, releases and tours. Here’s a quick summary of what’s been happening recently in our neck of the woods.
‘Bethmale’ EP
Heligoland will be releasing a new EP entitled ‘Bethmale’ in the coming weeks. Written and recorded over a week spent in a remote village hidden away amongst the foothills of the Pyrénées in south-west France, ‘Bethmale’ comprises five new songs by Karen, Dave and Steve. Working for a week in blissful isolation meant that we had plenty of time to experiment with field recordings, different instrumentation and approaches. In some ways it’s maybe the most minimal and atmospheric record we’ve ever made. Our special thanks to Robin Guthrie for a beautiful job mixing the EP.
More news on ‘Bethmale’ and a preview of the EP coming next week.
‘Sainte Anne’ EP
Mixing is now underway for the follow-up to ‘Bethmale’, an EP entitled ‘Sainte Anne’. After we had so much fun recording in the Pyrénées we thought we’d repeat the experiment and approach, but in a different part of the country. Earlier this year we travelled to the sleepy village of Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne in Franche-Comté for a week of writing and recording. This is the first time we’d worked on new material with drummer/percussionist Antti Mäkinen and together the four of us came up with a batch of songs with a really different feeling and atmosphere to ‘Bethmale’ and our previous releases. We’re still mixing the EP so it will be a little while yet before we can confirm the release date for ‘Sainte Anne’.
Sealight – ‘Dead Letters’ EP
Heligoland’s guitarist Dave recently launched a new band, Sealight, with a debut release in the form of a beautiful EP ‘Dead Letters’. Sealight is a trio based in Paris, and comprises Dave, vocalist/guitarist Sandra Rossini and drummer Marc-Aurèle Ngo Xuan. Following on from the EP release they’ve been playing shows in Paris and around France in recent weeks. Keep an eye out for more upcoming concerts and have a listen to their music below. The EP is available for sale directly from the band at Sealight’s Bandcamp page.
Robin Guthrie USA/Canada Tour
Heligoland’s rhythm section, Antti and Steve, were on the road with good friend and Heligoland’s producer Robin Guthrie for a tour of the USA and Canada tour in June. The tour was a double-headline bill with Brendan Perry and encompassed dates across the US and Canada from Washington DC to San Diego. Along the way Robin, Antti and Steve performed a four song live session for radio station KEXP in Seattle which is now online at Youtube.
Karen – Collaborations and solo recordings
In amidst all of the above activity, Karen has also been busy working on a number of collaborations and some solo recordings. More news soon about upcoming releases.
Emin Pasha
Emin Pasha is a new project from the duo of Dave and Steve. Stepping outside of Heligoland and their other bands and projects, Emin Pasha is an entirely instrumental outing. The first recording to be released is a debut four track EP. The EP will be released early in the new year on the Commission 45 label in a limited edition with bespoke packaging.
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