TIMES of no travel aren’t a restriction to collaborating on great music in this fibre-optic world of ours: as proved by The Illness’s crackingly worldly-wise slice of transatlantic indie-leaning guitarpop, “Descending”, out on 12” next week.
And today the band have released the video for the track as a taster: you can watch below.
The Illness are a transpennine collective of musicians drawn from Sea Music’s stable who, down the years, have played with psych-pop cultist Kelley Stoltz and Pea Sea, featuring Field Music, among many others.
The band has morphed and mutated over the past half-decade, losing and gaining members and scrapping sessions: but if this first fruit as committed to vinyl is anything to go by, keep your opera glasses to hand and focused.
For while the music for both sides of the 12” was recorded in a former maternity home in York, it’s Steve West of Pavement fame who lends his deep Lee Hazlewood tones to the track released today – recorded in Richmond, VA.
And the vocals on the flip, a video for which will be released next week, were laid down in Iowa by Silver Jews’ Bob Nastonovich.
And what you’re gonna get for your vinyl buck is a lovely, careworn slab of lofi guitar aceness, yes, with a bit of Pavement in those guitars, but these guys have been around the block, no mere copyists they; and anyhow, as the songs swells and builds to a climax, check that gorgeous little flute figure, all “The Boy With the Arab Strap”.
The band said: “2020 seemed as good a time as any to finally commit to a release; then came a worldwide pandemic, creating a perfect storm!”. An album will follow.
A little Welsh psychedelic goodness was sprinkled over the songs in the mastering by Iwan Morgan, who’s overseen the sound dept. for Euros Childs, Cate le Bon, and Gruff Rhys.
The Illness’s Descending/Phrases Redacted 12” is released next Friday, July 10th, by Sea Records. Pre-order your 12” here to ship on the day: https://theillness1.bandcamp.com/
