MODERN STUDIES: Welcome Strangers (Fire Records, 2018)

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‘Welcome Strangers’ is the second record by feral pop outliers Modern Studies. Elegiac and haunted, life-giving and triumphant, this beguiling return digs deep into landscapes both real and imagined, internal and external, in a work that might perhaps best be described as “kosmiche choral” or, if we’re pushing it “arts-und-crafts-werk”. Or, put simply, glorious pop music.
It is an elemental and often spectral world of contrasting tones and hues that is found within ‘Welcome Strangers’, one whose lyrical vocabulary is of loss, light, air, sun, growth; of spires, seeds and phosphene dreams. Here is the Britain of visionaries such as Kate Bush, Broadcast or PJ Harvey, a nation of dark magic, conflict, celebration and confusion, all at the same time.
Witness the incandescent chamber-pop of ‘Get Back Down’: underpinned by complex jazz rhythms, and string and brass flourishes, it manages to be both understated and epic as it explores a similar sonic terrain to Wild Beasts. Or there’s ‘Horns And Trumpets’, a haunting musical perambulation that burrows deep into Britain, a warm-hued hymn for future generations, and ‘Let Idle Hands’, which abandons restraint halfway through and, in a moment of musical epiphany, runs joyously to the horizon. Meanwhile on ‘Phosphene Dream’ the honeyed harmonies of Emily Scott and Rob St. John wrap themselves around each other like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood had they holidayed in draughty Glasgow tenements. Or perhaps – as on ‘Disco’ – they come closer to Kylie and Nick Cave.
“It’s an ever changing thing – an organism,” explains principle songwriter Emily of Modern Studies’ collaborative creative process, “there is space for each of the band to experiment.” Shared band listening habits include Yamasuki, Van Dyke Parks, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Matthew E White, Basil Kirchin, and Nanci Griffith” (Press)

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More and more Singles…

JANE WEAVER: The lighting back (Fire Records, 2018)

Live Dates
16 Feb: Muffathalle, Munich, Germany*
17 Feb: Admiralspalast, Berlin, Germany*
18 Feb: Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany* 
19 Feb: Carre, Amsterdam, Netherlands* 
21 Feb: DK Studio 1, Copenhagen, Denmark* 
22 Feb: Munchen Brewery, Stockholm, Sweden* 
23 Feb: Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway* 
24 Feb: Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden*
05 Apr: New Theatre, Oxford, UK **
06 Apr: O2 Academy, Bournemouth, UK **
07 Apr: The Dome, Brighton, UK **
08 Apr: Margate Winter Gardens, Margate, UK **
10 Apr: Corn Exchange, Cambridge, UK **
11 Apr: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, Wales **
12 Apr: Olympia, Liverpool, UK **
13 Apr: De Montfort Hall, Leicester, UK **
14 Apr: Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland **
16 Apr: The Empire, Middlesbrough, UK **
17 Apr: O2 Academy, Sheffield, UK **
10 May: Focus Wales Festival, St Giles Church, Wrexham, Wales  
29 Jun – 01 Jul: Halfway Festival, Białystok, Poland 
8 Jul:  TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow Green, Glasgow, Scotland
21 Jul: Deershed Festival, Baldersby Park, North Yorkshire, UK  
26-29 July: Camp Bestival, Dorset, UK  
16-19 Aug: Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons, Wales 

w/ Belle & Sebastian *
w / Public Service Broadcasting **

MODERN STUDIES: Mud and Flame (Fire Records, 2018)

BARK PSYCHOSIS: From What Is Said To When It’s Read (Fire Records, 2018)

CANARY ISLANDS: Glöm Baby Glöm (2018)

 

Swimming – MODERN STUDIES: Swell to great (Fire Records, 2017)

#TheJangleBox #NovedadesTheJangleBox #DescubreTheJangleBox

“Inspired by an antique Victorian harmonium that eventually found its way from Northern Ireland to Scotland, Modern Studies’ debut album ‘Swell To Great’, aptly named after an organ stop, was unusually written with the malfunctioning instrument at the centre of their songwriting.
A stimulating approach that melds the old and new through their instruments, delicate harmonies and rich compositions that are steeped in traditional and contemporary folk music. The restrictive process even had their wheezy founding member, the harmonium, controlling the pitch as the intrepid band members tuned their tools accordingly.
Recorded in Harvey’s studio, Pumpkinfield in the rural surroundings of Perthshire, the quartet’s songs are embedded in the sea and the landscape of the shoreline.
Emily Scott’s tender lead vocals soar over the sweeping cello, bellowing harmonium and gentle percussive crashes on ‘Black Street’, ‘Bottle Green’ and ‘Sleep’, while hidden in its depths Rob St John, whose distinctive vocals recall David Thomas Broughton, experiments with tape loops that are buried within the layers of their orchestral arrangements. St John, known for his field recordings and art-science projects, cites as his guiding inspiration Brian Eno’s experimentalism and pop sensibilities.
Unfurling bucolic stories come with Scott’s lyrics for each song, ‘Supercool’ sets the tone with an immediate sense of yearning, moving into more contemporary folk-pop on ‘Father Is A Craftsman’ and ‘Dive-bombing’ evokes images of summer frolicking on the shore. The record includes an exceptional and haunting ode to Shirley Collins’ rendition of traditional song ‘Bold Fisherman’ that featured on the Earth Recordings ‘Shirley Inspired’ compilation” (Press Note)

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Handmade – Modern Studies: Swell to great (Fire Records, 2017)

Un estimulante (y relajante) proyecto a base de Neo-Folk y música de raíces nórdicas grabado y mezclado con el cariño de lo artesano.

“A stimulating approach that melds the old and new through their instruments, delicate harmonies and rich compositions that are steeped in traditional and contemporary folk music. The restrictive process even had their wheezy founding member, the harmonium, controlling the pitch as the intrepid band members tuned their tools accordingly.
Recorded in Harvey’s studio, Pumpkinfield in the rural surroundings of Perthshire, the quartet’s songs are embedded in the sea and the landscape of the shoreline.
Emily Scott’s tender lead vocals soar over the sweeping cello, bellowing harmonium and gentle percussive crashes on ‘Black Street’, ‘Bottle Green’ and ‘Sleep’, while hidden in its depths Rob St John, whose distinctive vocals recall David Thomas Broughton, experiments with tape loops that are buried within the layers of their orchestral arrangements. St John, known for his field recordings and art-science projects, cites as his guiding inspiration Brian Eno’s experimentalism and pop sensibilities.
Unfurling bucolic stories come with Scott’s lyrics for each song, ‘Supercool’ sets the tone with an immediate sense of yearning, moving into more contemporary folk-pop on ‘Father Is A Craftsman’ and ‘Dive-bombing’ evokes images of summer frolicking on the shore. The record includes an exceptional and haunting ode to Shirley Collins’ rendition of traditional song ‘Bold Fisherman’ that featured on the Earth Recordings ‘Shirley Inspired’ compilation” (Press Note)

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