According to folklore, the Cuckoo is said to sing from St Tiburtius Day (14 April). To mark the occasion, Stick in the Wheel have released an icy, stripped-back, harder and darker re-framing of the dystopian trad-offering, The Cuckoo.
The duo make music that draws from history, fed through a portal into a dystopian future vision of the city. This sub-bass lament is drawn through that portal, using the fractured palate that the duo first explored as part of enigmatic dubstep pioneers Various Production’s groundbreaking track “Hater”. The 2021 original came from Tonebeds for Poetry, Stick In The Wheel’s third mixtape – “a remarkable psychogeographic voyage through a thousand years of London culture” (UNCUT 9/10).
Combinations of sound that are unexpected and completely unique, discordant interludes and ragged-edged drones: these aren’t the things you might expect to find on a folk album. But we live in accelerated times, and if music doesn’t change, it will die out. No one recognises that fact quite so keenly as Stick In The Wheel, who continue to be one of the most groundbreaking and unpredictable acts in any of the countless genres they move between.
Thomas Blake on Tonebeds for Poetry, Folk Radio
This VIP edit is in honour of the forthcoming special shows at London’s Kings Place (April 28th) and Brighton Festival (May 21st). Previous video collaborators Zeroh will live code and VJ new visuals onto a bespoke stage set. The King’s Place Sound Unwrapped concerts use the dnb audio soundscape speaker array, with the duo creating a special immersive mix of tracks from Tonebeds for Poetry – with some being performed live for the first time – alongside their 4-piece live band featured on Endurance Soundly Caged. Brighton features the same visuals, this time in the opulent setting of the Dome, alongside a talk about recent archives project Perspectives on Tradition with Jon1st, Nabihah Iqbal & Olugbenga.
Out on 14th April – St Tiburtius Day, traditionally the first day cuckoos are heard, heralding either the beginning of Spring or Summer, depending on where you are in the UK. Its arrival can mean performing a ritual: ignore this at your peril. Upon hearing your first cuckoo, if you’ve coins in your pocket, turn them over so you’ll be rich. Perhaps spit on the ground, and hope the ground is soft enough to collect the luck, or just buss some holly, and by that we mean pick a sprig from your nearest hedgerow. Good luck to you.
The Cuckoo is streaming now.
For more information, live dates etc. visit their website: https://www.stickinthewheel.com/