‘Innocent Beginnings’, the second single from Deadlight Dance, Marlborough based 80s Goth revivalists Deadlight Dance has just been released.
Recorded at the internationally acclaimed Chiseldon ‘Mooncalf Studios’ by Nick Beere, ‘Innocent Beginnings’ is off Deadlight Dance’s debut album ‘…Beyond Reverence’, which is due to be released later this summer.
‘Innocent Beginnings’ is a gothic tale of advantage and abuse during the recent pandemic, set to a distorted backdrop of chorus drenched driving bass and 80s synths; an homage to the post punk sounds of bands like Joy Division and The Sisters of Mercy but with a poppier edge of bands like The Human League and Depeche Mode.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Fletcher said, “It’s the age old tale of how those in charge do not always follow the same rules that the rest of us do. A musical assault on the people at the top, who abuse their privilege”.
Bass player and multi-instrumentalist Tim Emery added, “A lot of these songs were written on a bass guitar (on this occasion) over lockdown with us exchanging ideas across WhatsApp. We were able to build on them when we finally got together and that’s very much how this song started”.
The Marlborough band released ‘Missives from the Sisters’ back in February, which picked up both national and international radio play . “We were pleased with how well it did, getting played on Gothic Radio in the USA and discovering articles online in Italian and Spanish about the band that we had to use Google translate to read!” said Nick.
The band filmed an accompanying video for the new single in Axford and Aldbourne. It saw the duo return to Axford Village Hall, where they had previously played together in 1990. The band again collaborated with Haunting the Atom who produced the video. “There was less of a story to this video, focusing more on the band, but we thought it would just be cool to revisit some old haunts and film around the same places that Jon Pertwee was when they made the Dr Who episodes (The Daemons) back in 1971” said Tim.
The band return to The Blue Boar in Aldbourne, which also features in the band’s new video, on Sunday 04 June at 5pm for a special Gothic Acoustic matinee performance. Nick said “There are very much too sides to the band; the acoustic side using unusual folk instruments and the electric side with the programming and synths. Both are as valid as each other”.
As a parting shot, Tim noted that “‘Innocent Beginnings’ is unintentionally more commercial than the last single and of course, we hope it does well. At the same time, we always have an eye on the future so are actually already thinking beyond the album, never mind the single. We’ve been talking about collaborations, acoustic EPs (to showcase that side of the band), more shows and generally building on what we already have in store”
With the revival of Goth from renewed interest in bands like The Cure through to TV shows like Wednesday, Wiltshire’s Deadlight Dance are certainly leading the way locally. ‘Innocent Beginnings’ is is now available on all streaming platforms.
Check it out here – along with ‘Missives from the sisters’, and their video on You Tube (below):
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