PRESTON. Lancashire city, First section of British motorway avoids it. First KFC in the country. Brutalist bus station. According to the Happy Mondays, home of “some c**t from”.
Roaming the city astride the Ribble and evoking it in music is Rainy Miller, who’s just dropped “Meridian, 1520”, a slice of urban pop with sliding, eerie vocal effects, dubby space and echo, acoustic guitar, swaying from a clean, contemporary pop purity into something much weirder and more textural, evoking a post-The Streets musical language as he looks “just out at sea”, choral soul warmth soothing a little of those rain-lashed, pre-stressed concrete edges. The way he bolts music together creates something entirely forward-looking, putting him out there with HAAi and Jockstrap.
The desire to put his city on the map and showcase its stories has driven the Prestonian to share the perspectives he sees and hears in his corner of the Red Rose county and down The Gate.
Elsewhere in the sphere of music, Rainy is a member of the Fixed Abode collective, also home to Blackhaine.
“Meridian, 1520” is taken from Rainy’s new EP, A Choreographed Interruption: named for a choreographed performance undertaken by 32 bus drivers at Preston bus station. On a deeper level, it also serves serves as an investigation of how Rainy has handled parental grief.
“’Meridian, 1520′ was birthed when we were on tour in Brighton,” Rainy says. “The song name is borrowed from the film Paris, Texas, by Wim Wenders.
“1520 is the hotel address in which the child is returned to his long-lost mother by his father. This had striking similarity for me in terms of the imagery for obvious reasons, but the main point is the absolution of the past, and the ability to move forward.
“The lyrical content throughout the song is about letting go and written from many perspectives. It’s written from the standpoint I had of letting go of a romantic relation and absolving myself of ill thought, but it also acted as the absolution of all love that had passed in my life, and the daily battle and struggle we face in the ongoing task of healing ourselves, and letting the people who let go attempt to find peace within themselves. This is the final stage of loss.”
“The video serves as the battle of self when dealing with love and loss, and this is shot in the Preston Gracie Barra gym. [It] depicts a sea of people sparring and fighting, but is littered with good gestures with no ill intent; the perfect setting for the metaphor of that battle of forgiving and letting live, but also fighting with the grievances you may feel.
“It was shot using a friend of mine from home who I have been around since I was four years old, so the contextual link to home is ever so strong, and even if all the context exists solely for me, it still exists.”
That unique musical perspective he has? “Technicalities can be learnt, and perspective is something every one of us holds unique; just like DNA,” he concludes.
Rainy Miller’s “Meridian 1520” is out now on all digital streaming platforms via Fixed Abode.
Connect with Rainy Miller on Twitter, Instagram, Bandcamp and Spotify.
