Epic45 - Through Broken Summer (2018)

Staffordshire’s purveyors of pastoral pop, epic45, return after a seven-year hiatus with new album ‘Through Broken Summer’, available from Friday 28th September.

Much of what has always driven epic45 still remains; the British landscape, hazy childhood memories and a sense of loss. However, as tensions across Britain have increased, epic45 have been forced to re-examine their relationship with the country in which they live.

“The album is about, in part, returning to the place where we grew up from birth to our early twenties. From a personal perspective, it’s sad to see the place changing; new houses, the disappearance of old landmarks etc and the sadness of our childhood homes, strangely quiet now. But on a wider scale, it’s the palpable sense of cultural and political stagnation too. It’s a very insular place now, the community more fragmented than ever before”.

Atmospheric soundscapes combined with subtle electronics permeate throughout ‘Through Broken Summer’. ‘Outside’ and ‘From Quiet Houses’ are written with a sense of grandeur and astral beauty but darker moments are witnessed on tracks like ‘Other Rooms’, a glitchy, static affair.

There is a calming and addictively measured beauty to ‘Through Broken Summer. ‘Hillside ‘86’, which includes a guest appearance by Antony Harding of July Skies, shimmers against a backdrop of broken beats and heavenly sonics. If you’re looking for musical references, you might be able to hear the ghosts of Sarah Records, Disco Inferno, Slowdive and New Order in epic45’s ever evolving sound.