The Soundcarriers

Drawing on such similar influences as Broadcast and Stereolab, to whom the Nottingham quartet are often compared, the Soundcarriers' oft-spooky sound is informed by German music of the early '70s, English folk, library music, Tropicalia, jazz, and lounge, as well as the pop end of psychedelia. They compiled an impressive slate of albums beginning in the late 2000s that culminated in 2014's Entropicalia, a rare, guitar-based record on the influential Ghost Box label. After a long break, the group came back with a pair of albums -- 2022's Wilds and 2024's Through Other Reflections -- that served up a more powerful take on their hazy shade of psych. The group -- Adam Cann, Dorian Conway, Leonore Wheatley, and Paul Isherwood -- debuted with the single "I Had a Girl" in 2007 and released their first long-player, Harmonium, two years later on the Melodic label. This established the template for the band's sound: a Motorik groove paired with a blissed-out hazy psychedelic sheen and feather-light vocal harmonies. The vinyl issue of the album featured sleeve notes penned by the late Chris Dedrick of the Free Design, a clear influence on the band. Harmonium was closely followed by Celeste in 2010, and like its predecessor, the album garnered enthusiastic reviews in the music press. Entropicalia, the Soundcarriers' long-awaited third album, was issued in 2014 on Ghost Box. This had already been preceded a full year earlier by a very limited-edition, vinyl-only release of alternate mixes from the album, The Other World of the Soundcarriers. Entropicalia featured Jesse Chandler from folk-rockers Midlake on a couple of tracks, plus actor Elijah Wood narrating the unsettling 12-minute wig out "This Is Normal." The group went on hiatus soon after the album's release with Wheatley spending time as a member of Whyte Horses and the neo-disco act International Teachers of Pop. They were conjured back into action by the musical supervisor of the AMC TV series Lodge 49, Thomas Patterson. Not only did they provide the show's haunting theme, they also contributed a cover of Scott Walker's "The Seventh Seal." Inspired by the chance to work again, the group recorded a full version of the show's theme, retitled "Waves" for release on a split single with Gloria. They then decided to record more music in a series of non-studio settings (an art gallery, primary school, and various houses) and release the results themselves. With a more powerful rhythmic attack but the same amount of swirling Baroque psych-pop, Wilds was issued on the band's own Phosphonic label in early 2022. The band continued to work together afterward, recording steadily at their Nottingham rehearsal space/studio. The resulting album, Through Other Reflections, captures the band digging deeply into their usual blend of psychedelia while expanding their tendrils into trippy folk rock, fuzz-damaged garage sounds, and cinematic biker rock. It was released in mid-September 2024 on Phosphonic.
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