Exciting news is that The Bell That Never Rang, the new studio album from Lau has been officially scheduled for release on 4th May. The album was recorded at their usual preferred studio, Castle Sounds, just outside Edinburgh, which Kris says, “Feels like home,” and comes out on CD / DL / DELUXE 2LP + 2CD / DELUXE 2CD. As we told you in our report from Lau Land Edinburgh, back in December, the album has been produced by Joan As Poliewoman, a radical move for all involved. Full details of the record, and of course our review will follow in due course, but as always with this uniquely talented trio, you should expect the unexpected. You can hear the opening song, First Homecoming below, along with new songs from a host of other Reveal Records acts.
https://soundcloud.com/tomreveal/sets/reveal-records-player
I spoke to Aidan, Kris and Martin and Joan during the Lau Land festival and they offered a few teasing details to whet the appetite.
Firstly Joan revealed, “I’ve done a certain amount of producing before and also musical directing for a band, but I’ve never done a whole album for someone else, so this is really exciting for me. You couldn’t hope for better musicians or cooler guys though and I’m sure their music can be pushed, because they’re already doing that themselves.” Lau joined Joan on stage during her performance at Lau Land and she admitted, “We played together for the first time today, but they’re so talented and comfortable it was an incredibly easy, collaborative experience.”
When we spoke the following day, Martin told me, “What’s different about this record is that it’s less complete than usual. We’ve never had a situation before where we could afford the studio time that allowed us that sort of flexibility. Everything had to be nailed, written and rehearsed to the last detail. There’s much more freedom with this album and I think that’s where Joan will be right in amongst it.” He continues, “In many ways it’s hard to define precisely what the producers role is and it changes from band to band and even album to album with the same people involved, but Joan is such a fine musician, I think there’s every chance that something genuinely collaborative will come from it.”
Kris picks up the point telling me, “So much of what we do starts with improvisation and we’ve been working with quite skeletal ideas, smaller and smaller units. It’s something we’re more comfortable with now and once someone throws something into the ring it becomes Lau’s, not mine or Aidan’s or Martin’s.”
I’m not giving much away, as the title makes it obvious, but the centre-piece of the album is the long piece, worked up for the Commonwealth Games in celebration of Glasgow, The Bell That Never Rang, which has also been a feature of their live set. In some ways that piece also their musical freedom as Kris reveals, “Really speaking we’ve been finishing writing that as we’ve played it live, we’ve had optional ways in which it can develop, so playing it in concert at least half a dozen times has given us the chance to experiment a little.” Martin adds with a laugh, “Yes we fundamentally changed it, reordered all of the parts and our string section aren’t used to that sort of thing happening.”
They are all fans of Joan and got to spend time together when Lau visited New York last April. Aidan explains, “We did some shows, but also had some time to go exploring and Martin and me took the opportunity to go and see Lady Ga Ga while we were there.” Martin picks up the thread, “Yes, she was great, but there’s that whole music scene there, where the pop world meets John Cage and the avant-garde and that’s naturally interesting for us.” Aidan continues, “But it was when we got back and talked about the experiences and the excitement of the trip, we decided to invite Joan in to produce us.” Martin concludes “Joan is from that City and that musical world.”
Released 4th May via Reveal Records
Lau will tour the new album from May with support from Siobhan Wilson
The Bell That Never Rang Tour
MAY
14 – Glasgow, St Andrews in the Square
15 – Perth, Concert Hall
16 – Liverpool, Epstein Theatre
17 – Manchester, Dancehouse Theatre
19 – Leeds, Howard Assembly Room
20 – Brighton, Komedia
21 – London, Union Chapel
23 – Truro, Hall For Cornwall
24 – Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre
JUNE
26 – Lerwick, Mareel
27 – Aberdeen, Music Hall
28 – Stirling, Tolbooth
Photo credit: Genevieve Stevenson