Replicant / The Melancholy Rose : Single Released 04June2021

And here is the new single: 

Replicant / The Melancholy Rose. ...As the label put it:

Driven by acoustic guitar and exuding a joyous hip-swaying bouncing beat. Replicant playfully asks questions about the very nature of human existence. Offering a foretaste of the themes of the upcoming full length album. Here too, The Speed Of Sound draw heavily from their Science-Fiction influences. While Replicant seems to inhabit the same universe as Blade Runner it also carries another message from the corporate world. Where modern job interviews appear to have evolved into some kind of reverse Voight-Kampff Test; instead of designed to detect replicants, the purpose is to determine if the applicant has unfortunately retained any human characteristics, or will - as hoped - mechanically follow scripts and instructions. Do Androids dance to analogue music? We don’t know, but point your arm and shout along with the chorus.

Shimmering summer pop for shaded people; languid open and drifting, a gothically tinged piece of romanticism lies atop a sparkling guitar riff and a tale of the first rose of the year to bloom. Ahead of its time and alone, but merely the trailblazer showing the way and heralding the coming change. A celebration of the sudden bursting open of summer itself and an invitation to tune out from the background white-noise of civilisation and relax. To exist in the moment and enjoy the things around us. The Speed Of Sound are known for their power, yet this displays their soaring delicate side. Guest vocals are provided by one of pair a blackbirds that nested (and successfully fledged four chicks) among the dense honeysuckle and ivy of John A’s back garden during lockdown.

Recorded at Vibratone Sound Studio in Manchester.

Sleeve Art by LocalHotelParking.

Something New

31 years in and The Speed Of Sound are not averse to new things; the imminent release of the new single sees the addition of keyboards to the sound of Sound. And it is none other than Henry Armstrong, (yes, son of JohnA) that can be found twirling the Korg knobs and pressing the keys.

Adding a new dimension of sounds and textures.

On the Everything Changes album the idea was to capture the live sound. Similar to The Clash's first album; it was a simple plan - go in the studio, play the songs and record them. It is essentially a live album without audience noise.
With the current recordings the live approach was retained, playing together, set-up as a live band, but adding a lot more studio nuance and way more things that can't be done live.
The keyboards however, are part off the long-term plan and will be out there with us once it is sensible to play gigs again post-pandemic.
Until then we don't want to put an audience, sound-crew or obviously ourselves at risk.
Stay safe out there people!

And, before there is more live music there will be more recorded music... very soon...