Tag: the days we were young

Phil Cosby announces new EP

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Alternative-pop artist Phil Cosby Announces retro-futuristic EP ‘Blue Daze’ this October


Rising Irish alternative-pop artist Phil Cosby is pleased to announce details of his new EP ‘Blue Daze’ on 20th October.

‘Blue Daze’, a breathtakingly emotive record, sees Cosby effortlessly drawing on late 70s/ early 80s youth nostalgia, resulting in a truly immersive soundscape. Collectively the five tracks juxtapose themes of hope and loss over powerful, melodic rhythms. He details the EP: “I took inspiration from the Tangerine Dream track – Love On A Real Train, heard in the 80s movie Risky Business. The track’s evocative and unique quality sparked my interest in nostalgia, and the idea that this emotion in music, might be more than just a ‘time and place’ association personal to the listener – that certain music has in itself a nostalgic quality.”

With the influence of retro-futurism, ‘Blue Daze’ was conceptualised in a sci-fi realm. The intention is to hinge the journey around two big tracks, ‘Star Rider’ and ‘The Days We Were Young’. The former, with a Can vibe, and the latter with a dream pop feel. To accomplish this, two drummers of very different styles were used for the respective tracks. Malcolm Catto (DJ Shadow, Floating Points) and Martyn Barker (Goldfrapp, Robert Plant, Beth Gibbons). The aim was for these two tracks to juxtapose each other, yet sit perfectly together in the piece as a whole.

Cosby’s self-produced debut album ‘The Deal’ was released in 2014. It journeys from broken down, one man and his guitar, to orchestral arrangements and psychedelic inflections. Notable contributors to the album include mercury prize nominee Jon Hopkins. The record was mixed by studio legend Phil Brown whose CV includes The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, and David Bowie. It was most specifically Brown’s work with Talk Talk and John Martyn that led Cosby to work with him. The Deal’s release was followed by an extensive tour of Ireland culminating at Electric Picnic Festival.

For the recording of ‘Blue Daze’, Cosby assembled a band of notable musicians. On bass – Simon Edwards (Talk Talk), keys – Mikey Rowe (David Gilmour), on drums – Malcolm Catto (DJ Shadow, Floating Points) and Martyn Barker (Goldfrapp). The album was engineered by Phill Brown (Talk Talk, John Martyn), and mixed by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics, at his vintage analogue studio – Quatermass Sound Lab, in Dalston, London. ‘Blue Daze’ has been mastered and cut for vinyl by John Dent (PJ Harvey, Portishead).

Tracklist: 1. Mem#01   2. Star Rider   3. Mirari   4. The Crash   5. The Days We Were Young

SOUNDCLOUD https://soundcloud.com/phil-cosby

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/philcosbymusic

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/philcosbymusic

TWITTER https://twitter.com/philcosbymusic

WEBSITE https://www.philcosby.com

Blue Daze is available for pre order on Bandcamp. Link https://philcosby.bandcamp.com/