Release date: January 15th 2011 tbc
Seahawks have been good to us this past year or so - three 12's, a picture 7", a free 7 track CD, the 'Ocean Trippin' collection and plenty of free downloads at their blog page - but nothing quite prepared us for the sonic symphony that is 'Spaceships Over Topanga Canyon'.
An epic psychedelic sprawl spread over two sides of lavishly illustrated vinyl, 'Spaceships...' is the first in the bands ‘Vision Quest’ series where Seahawks transport themselves and us to a different realm entirely.
On this particular fantasy voyage we take a trip to 70's California and in particular Topanga Canyon, home of Neil Young and Dean Stockwell and the site of numerous UFO sightings and crazed happenings.
Not that this is in anyway an exercise in nostalgia, more of a heavily dosed channeling of events that were and might have been, an auditory hallucination, a trip into the future via the past.
Musically VQ1 inhabits many of Seahawks usual haunts - tape drenched, reverb soaked vistas, where smeared guitars, tripped out synths and spectral voices slide over skewed beats that once were smooth and aquatic sounds dubbed from the deep send the listener spinning into a freefall meditation – but the overall effect is even deeper than their previous sonic voyages; with VQ1 Seahawks have created a powerful audio narcotic capable of intense psychic re-orientation.
The listening notes include instructions on 'How to enter another dimension from the safety of your armchair'.
If you only take one trip this year be sure it's this one.
Picture disc album with Pete Fowler artwork in an Edition of 500 copies (NO CD)