The new album by Pere Ubu, The Long Goodbye is the end of a road. David Thomas has been talking about Pere Ubu’s journey on the road to Satisfied City for many years but he has now declared that they have arrived. Named after Raymond Chandler’s novel, Mr Thomas says, ‘This wraps up every song and story that Pere Ubu has been telling in different ways for the past forty plus years. It is one definitive hour that provides the answers to the questions we’ve been asking and delivers it up into what I consider the definitive destination.”

This Pere Ubu album does not sound like any of the others. It has a large expanse of synths due to Thomas writing and arranging the songs alone with his private collection of drum machines, synthesizers and a melodeon, before sending it out to the other musicians in Pere Ubu’s extensive fold, with invitation for them to take it on and make it more.

Gagarin and Wheeler took up the challenge and embedded complex electronica into the multi-faceted landscape. Peter Jørgens’ outré percussion adds a tribal dimension, while guitarists Moliné and Temple, along with clarinetist, Darryl Boon, complete this unique fusion of techno meets trad rock meets… the avant garage.

‘I’d been listening to commercial pop radio non-stop for months,’ David Thomas says. ‘That’s what I wanted to rewrite and reimagine. Pop music shouldn’t be without meaning or truthfulness. We live in desperate towns and we keep on going regardless of the stench. It’s not often you’re gonna find the answers. If ever. But here is pop music the way it should sound.’

Track Listing:

01 What I Heard On The Pop Radio

02 Marlowe

03 Flicking Cigarettes At The Sun

04 Road Is A Preacher

05 Who Stole The Signpost?

06 The World (As We Can Know It)

07 Fortunate Son

08 The Road Ahead

09 Skidrow-on-Sea

10 Lovely Day

Finland’s Inverse Records continue their fine run of form with this new folk metal offering. Temple Of The Stars is the new band from Tobias Tåg, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Korsholm, located at the west coast of Finland.

This music is sonically nocturnal and melodic, with a lot of folk elements presented within an atmospheric rock context. It´s a mix of folk, rock, prog, and metal that´s going to appeal to a wide audience. The songs are catchy but they also have a sense of mystique.

Nightspirit was written and recorded by Tobias Tåg and co-produced and managed by Mathias Lillmåns (frontman of Finntroll and Magenta Harvest). The lyrics on the record were written by Thomas Finholm and the bass tracks were laid out by Niklas Norrgrann. The album was mixed by André Alvinzi and mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studio in Örebro, Sweden.