Transmeridian Departure Lounge SKU: VIO060 Barcode: 5051142008268 21.00 £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Violette Records Released Date: 26th March 2021 Buying Format: 1LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Transmeridian is the first album from Departure Lounge (ex-Bella Union) in 19 years. It features all four original members plus a guest appearance from legendary REM guitarist, Peter Buck, one of many long-standing admirers of a band that embodied a lost age of reflective, experimental pop music coming to the fore at the turn of the Millennium alongside The Beta Band, Tunng, Boards Of Canada and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. The surprise new album, named after the defunct ‘golden age of aviation’ cargo airline for which singer/guitarist Tim Keegan’s dad was chief pilot, is released on Violette Records (formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett ) on digital and vinyl formats on Fri 26 March 2021. Originally scooped up by Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label (labelmates with John Grant’s Czars) following the self-funded release of their debut album Out Of Here (1999), Departure Lounge’s sophomore outing, Too Late To Die Young (2002) was equally acclaimed and was honoured as the first ever Album Of The Week on the emergent BBC 6 Music. The band toured extensively in the UK, Europe and the US, including outings with The Go-Betweens, Morcheeba, Paul Heaton and Robyn Hitchcock, peers whose stylistic contrasts reflect the eclectic nature of Departure Lounge themselves. Calling a halt in late 2002, citing family and geographical reasons (drummer Lindsay lives in Nashville, where their second album Jetlag Dreams (2001) was recorded), the four members remained firm friends and occasional collaborators, before reuniting in late 2019 for shows at The Green Door Store, Brighton and The Lexington, London, ostensibly to support the digital reissues of their first three cult-classic albums. With no plans other than to make some new music, the next day they set off for Middle Farm Studios, Devon. Tim Keegan (vocals/guitar), Chris Anderson (lead guitars/keyboards/bass), Lindsay Jamieson(drums/keyboards) and Jake Kyle (bass/guitar/drums) channelled their evident joy at being back together into a complete 13-track album, largely conceived and recorded in just one 24-hour session in the company of studio owner and co-producer, Peter Miles. Ranging from soulful Americana to piano and mellotron-fuelled melancholia via pastoral musings on the nature of post-youth and eerie Spaghetti Western-tinged instrumentals, the next leg on the Departure Lounge journey is a multi-mood expression of pure artistic freedom. The ‘leak’ of instrumental track Al Aire Libre (remixed by Parisian groovemeister Kid Loco) in October 2020 gave little away as to what fans could expect from a new Departure Lounge record, the track going gracefully everywhere and nowhere on a whistled Latino breeze. First single proper, Mercury In Retrograde, covered in the twinkling lights of a music box Casio CZ101 melody, turned the clock back – this was an old live favourite that never got past the studio door. Unfinished business brought to a happy conclusion, the single returned Keegan’s honest and distinctive lyrical voice back to British music at just the time listeners needed it. It was an emotional thread, rather than one musical style, which gave the first three Departure Lounge albums their coherence. The songs told the story of the band. Transmeridian has the same sense of deeply connected musical energy. The purring, campfire acoustica of Timber and So Long bear no obvious resemblance to the ethereal, end-of-the-evening, piano-led interlude Paging Marco Polo, whilst the quasi-glam stomp of Mr Friendly would normally have no business sharing space with the strange, spacey Gurnard Pines (named after an abandoned holiday camp on the Isle Of Wight). Yet the journey’s ebb and flow, accelerations and pauses make for compelling, grown-up listening. Australia, showcasing the chiming Rickenbacker 12-string of Athens, GA’s finest guitar slinger, leaves no doubt that Departure Lounge’s pop sensibilities also remain solidly intact. These four friends from different musical backgrounds came together originally with the stated aim of ‘creating music to soothe the troubled soul’. Citing their love of (and placing on record their debt to) influences including Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Talk Talk, Lou Reed, Arvo Pärt and Cocteau Twins, the band’s diversity of taste is reflected in the music they create. Transmeridian is only the second full-length LP released by Violette Records, formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett as a platform for Head’s work and developing into a respected independent label as well as multi-disciplinary event organiser, drawing in outsiders working in music, literature, art and design. The label continues to host live events whenever possible and recently initiated an ELP (halfway between and EP and an LP) vinyl series, putting out acclaimed releases by The Pistachio Kid and Studio Electrophonique. Artist Departure Lounge Genre Rock And Pop Label Violette Records Buying Options 1LP Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings Antelope Winnebago Club Australia Timber Harvest Mood Mercury In Retrograde Al Aire Libre Gurard Pines Mr. Friendly Paging Marco Polo Frédéric’s Ghost Don’t Be Afraid Flying Home So Long Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View We Are The Ocean Ark Rock And Pop | BMG Rights Management | 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released 11th May 2015 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders We Are The Ocean Ark £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: BMG Rights Management SKU: HOFF195LP Formats: 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released Date: 11th May 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Genesis The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Atlantic 75 Series) Progressive | Analogue Productions | 45rpm, 4LP, Box Set Released 19th December 2023 £165.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Genesis The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Atlantic 75 Series) £165.00 Genre: Progressive Label: Analogue Productions SKU: AAPA 013-45 Formats: 45rpm, 4LP, Box Set Released Date: 19th December 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music for Airports Rock And Pop | UMC/Virgin | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 14th November 2018 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music for Airports £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMC/Virgin SKU: ENOLP6 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 14th November 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Summer Camp Beyond Clueless Rock And Pop | Moshi Moshi | 1LP Released 31st July 2014 £13.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Summer Camp Beyond Clueless £13.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Moshi Moshi SKU: MOSHILP61 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 31st July 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Sade Soldier of Love Rock And Pop | Sony | 1LP Released 20th September 2024 £23.00 Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders Sade Soldier of Love £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sony SKU: 19658784851 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 20th September 2024 Read More Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Pete Astor One for the Ghost Rock And Pop | Tapete | 1LP, Includes CD Released 15th February 2018 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Pete Astor One for the Ghost £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Tapete SKU: TR396LP Formats: 1LP, Includes CD Released Date: 15th February 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones Little Windows Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 1LP Released 1st April 2016 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones Little Windows £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl SKU: COOKLP630 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 1st April 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Dorian Electra Fanfare Rock And Pop | Dorian Electra | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 27th October 2023 £23.00 Select options Dorian Electra Fanfare £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Dorian Electra Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 27th October 2023 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Jaco Pastorius Truth, Liberty & Soul (200g 45rpm 3LP) Jazz | 2xHD | 200g, 3LP, 45rpm Released 29th March 2024 £160.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jaco Pastorius Truth, Liberty & Soul (200g 45rpm 3LP) £160.00 Genre: Jazz Label: 2xHD SKU: 2HDLP1243-45 Formats: 200g, 3LP, 45rpm Released Date: 29th March 2024 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Prince 3121 Rock And Pop | Sony Music | 180g, 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 4th February 2019 £30.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Prince 3121 £30.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sony Music SKU: 19075910531 Formats: 180g, 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 4th February 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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