It’s been a while since we have featured quirky UK alternative pop collective The Speed Of Sound, but today gives good reason to do so as the music stalwarts release their new single – a double A-side at that – called‘Virtual Reality 123 / Charlotte 12″ Version’. As the second track gives away, there is a rework of another track and it turns out that so is the first song here – both tracks are lifted from their latest ‘Museum Of Tomorrow’, released in 2021 on multiple formats by Big Stir Records.
Hailing from Manchester, The Speed of Sound is made up of father and son John Armstrong (guitars and vocals) and Henry Armstrong (keyboards), Ann-Marie Crowley (vocals and guitar), Kevin Roache (bass guitar) and John Broadhurst (drums). Formed in 1989 with a pre-history dating back to the day Andy Warhol died in 1987, The Speed of Sound lies deep below the ‘music industry radar’, allowing for the evolution of their own distinctive sound and live act. Their music is optimistic, but with lyrical bite, a punk-inspired DIY ethos and lust for experimentation rooted in psychedelia.
The ‘Virtual Reality 123’ single itself is an eclectic piece – far from a radio edit, the introduction is quite long and gives the sense that you are in a David Lynch film. While the initial sparse composition featured at the outset takes you through several transitions, at about the 2-minute mark, things change up quite a bit and then it launches into the new version, where vocalist Ann-Marie Crowley gives a memorable performance. If the purpose of their release is to make you want to go back and listen to the ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ album, it seems they have achieved their goal. You can also check it out below. ‘Charlotte 12″ Version’ is even more impressive. Well done!
Throughout their 33-year history, The Speed Of Sound have always been idiosyncratic, counter-intuitive and perpetually looking for something new. These two fresh extended pieces take advantage of space that is not afforded when limited by the physical time constraints of vinyl. Just like a classic 12” single, each track clocks in at over 6 minutes – double the running time of the album originals.
‘Virtual Reality 123’ is a dramatically beautiful, yet desolate soundscape, unfurling within the startlingly atmospheric pairing of grand piano and guitar feedback blended with the human voice. Joyous and steely resolute in its determination to create and inhabit a personal parallel universe, it constructs a separate realm for the purpose of keeping the work/life spheres completely separate. A possibility powered by enabling and running an ‘alternative-life’ programme alongside the daily grind, it steps from one to the other, closing the door between them. Replacing the drudgeries of the physical analogue personal life with a digital perfection, the virtual world becomes a refuge from actual existence and the place when life exists in a state of perpetual euphoria.
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Frontman John Armstrong says, “This is the full version of ‘Virtual Reality’ – as originally conceived – parts 1, 2 and 3. It was simply too long to fit on the album in its entirety, so here it is in its unedited glory. We couldn’t get the piano into the recording studio, so we recorded that remotely and added it in.”
‘Charlotte 12” Version’ takes the already existing sense of anxious menace within the album version of this song, adding a ghostly and delicately layered ephemeral depth of neo-gothic proportions. Enhancing the dread within the runaway choruses, this performance leaves no need for flickering candles; true terror is within the mind.
John Armstrong explains, “The song is based on actual events from the 1850’s; the first time we played Charlotte live was in Elizabeth Gaskell’s house within the actual room where Charlotte Bronte hid behind a curtain to avoid meeting an unexpected visitor while she was staying in her fellow novelist’s home. That gig was just two weeks before Charlotte’s 200th birthday. It was easy to imagine her still there and hiding from us too. Anxiety is the natural state of the modern world, but it has been around much longer. The part of Charlotte in the introduction is performed by Janet Armstrong.”
‘Virtual Reality 123 / Charlotte (12″ Version)’ is out Friday and can be found via digital music purveyors such as Apple Music,Spotify and Bandcamp. While this “virtual release” is digital-only, the ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ album is still available on vinyl and CD from Big Stir Records and record stores worldwide.
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CREDITS
John Armstrong – songwriting, guitars and vocals
Ann-Marie Crowley – vocals and guitars
Kevin Roache – bass guitar
John Broadhurst – drums
Henry Armstrong – keyboards
Engineer, mixing & mastering by Adam Crossley & Chris Guest
Artist photo by Shay Rowan
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