Taking the already existing sense of anxious menace within the album version of Charlotte, the extended version here adds a ghostly and delicately layered ephemeral depth of neo-gothic proportions, enhancing the dread within the runaway choruses leaving no need for flickering candles; true terror is within the mind.
“The song is based on actual events from the 1850’s; the first time we played Charlotte live was in Elizabeth Gaskell’s house within the actual room where Charlotte Bronte hid behind a curtain to avoid meeting an unexpected visitor while she was staying in her fellow novelist’s home. That gig was just two weeks before Charlotte’s 200th birthday. It was easy to imagine her still there and hiding from us too. Anxiety is the natural state of the modern world, but it has been around much longer. The part of Charlotte on the introduction is performed by Janet Armstrong.”
Throughout their 33year history Manchester UK collective The Speed Of Sound are always idiosyncratic, counter-intuitive and perpetually looking for something new. This pairing of two fresh extended pieces explores more space than is available within the physical constraints of vinyl within their highly acclaimed Museum Of Tomorrow album (out now on Big Stir Records). In the process both pieces become epic in differing and unexpected ways.
Is this Progressive Pop? There is only one way to find out:
The Speed Of Sound are:
John Armstrong - Songwriting/Guitars/Vocals, Ann-Marie Crowley - Vocals/Guitars, Kevin Roache - Bass Guitar, John Broadhurst - Drums, Henry Armstrong - Keyboards.
Vive Le Rock - ‘Unique and other worldly”
The Big Takeover - “Unmistakeable sound - a winning formula”
Louder Than War - “A triumph of industry, imagination and talent, coolly novel and damned addictive”
Rock At Night - “A form of Art-Pop that is wry, incisive, yet a deeply listenable examination of post industrial culture”
Blitzed Magazine - “The Speed Of Sound are an outfit that should have had a much higher profile over the past three decades
Dancing About Architecture - “A blend of disparate creative threads woven together into a cohesive and fantastic design as only The Speed Of Sound is capable of”
Here Comes The Flood - “(The Speed Of Sound have) found a way to set the post-apocalyptic imagery of writers like John Wyndham to music”
Something Else - “Rife with power packed pop melodies and harmonious instrumentation”
The Manc Review - “a riotous maelstrom of musical mayhem”
Voix De Garage - “Plus que brillant et totalement unique!”
Zani - “A modern classic of independent music”
Album link: orcd.co/thespeedofsound-bsr
Website: thespeedofsounduk.com
Facebook: / thespeedofsounduk
Twitter: / speedofsounduk
Instagram: @thespeedofsounduk