Permafrost

From the second disc of A Cornucopia, Permafrost was written in the heat of a hotel balcony in Portugal in 2019; before anyone had heard of covid or lockdown. 

Instead the overpowering sense of frozen inertia and stasis evoked within Permafrost's chord structure and melody comes from the seventeenth century frost fairs held on the icebound river Thames. Bonfires were actually lit midstream, the ice was solid enough to support them.

A hauntingly unusual chord sequence, with an implied but non-existent key change and some wonderful muted trumpet from Bob Dinn. It fits the weird post-festive time of January where time stretches and the month seems as though its weeks are repeating. 

Physical; Vinyl and CD and also the downloads are here: https://www.thespeedofsounduk.com/shop-2/

Apocalypse Metropolis

Apocalypse Metropolis is taken from The Speed Of Sound's 'Victory' album, which itself is the 2nd disc of the 'A Cornucopia' trinity. Twinned musically with Apocalypse Acropolis, linked yet totally different in approach, feel and sound. Apocalypse Metropolis envisions a bright, bustling, busy cityscape, of traffic noise and neon lighting creating shadows and glamour, reflecting a civilisation continuing onwards unaware of its imminent collapse. 

A three line phrase skates across eight bars and then shifts in 3/4 time as Bob Dinn’s glorious trumpet is given free rein while ascending piano and vocal harmonies combine with a first Speed Of Sound usage of a string section. This is the very definition of the unexpected.

Physically A Cornucopia can be found on vinyl and CD here: https://www.thespeedofsounduk.com/shop-2/ and the download is here:  

Click the image to go direct to You Tube

https://thespeedofsound.bandcamp.com/album/a-cornucopia-pt-2-victory