It’s been three four years since NYC genre-bending music mavericks London Plane released their debut album ‘New York Howl’. Generally straddling the line between post-punk, indie and alternative rock, the six-piece has announced, together with their label Declared Goods, that they have a new long-player on the way and, if the initial offerings are any indication, this one is going to be a right doozy, featuring the band’s switch-tag of female-male vocals, sometimes in turn, sometimes in tandem. Whatever the case, it’s all superb and we look forward to sharing the rest with you when the time comes.
Today we present the video for another choice track from this collection -titled ‘Francesco (Italiano)’, which is a hotbed of lush post-punk excellence. Equally inspired by a cloth-covered 1970s diary by an immigrant, found among personal belongings discarded on a New York curb and the hospitalization of Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy on the eve of his NYC performance, ‘Francesco’ spins the tale of Catholic Saint, stigmatist, levitator and mystic Padre Pio as a young man. If that is too much info for you to process, then at least let this soak this: this is raw, whimsical, upbeat and full of spunk. It may even cause goosebumps in the same way as when you first heard the Bauhaus cracker ‘Lagartija Nick’.
The album is not out until June 17, but we can already look forward to April 20, which brings the release of the title track ‘Bright Black’, which is apparently an anti-war song and a simple statement of hope – of brightness – amongst the invasion of darkness, both internal and external, imminent and eventual, this track sets the tone for the album as a whole.
Earlier, the band released the English-language version of ‘Francesco’, as well as the female vocal-led single ‘Watch That Madman Go’ is also highly relevant given the current slaughter of Ukrainian citizens that Moscow has orchestrated. Putin can rot in hell, along with his enablers. Let this song be an anthem to their demise. In any case, it certainly rebukes propaganda of the sort used by dictatorship. Directed by Greg Vegas, the video features some of the 20th century’s most despised despots – from the Nazis to Ceaușescu. Had they waited until February, March or April to produce this clip, they could easily have filled it with all the atrocities Putin’s team has committed in Ukraine in the past 2 months.
Led by David Mosey (guitar and vocals) and Jessica Cole (vocals), London Plane also involves four very capable musicians: Bryan Garbe (drums), Grant Parker (bass), Julian Tulip (synths) and Kristofer Widholm (guitar). Mosey and Cole actually founded the band in 2014, having met backstage at a tribute show to the late great Lou Reed, being introduced by none other than Psychedelic Furs’ Joe McGinty.
As of April 20, the single will be available digitally everywhere and can be pre-ordered and pre-saved athttps://found.ee/yM0q4. The full ‘Bright Black’ album is already available to order via Bandcamp athttps://londonplane.bandcamp.com/album/bright-black.
CREDITS
Produced by McKenzie Stubbert and David Mosey
Recorded at House Under Magic Studio, Brooklyn
Engineered by Danny Taylor at House Under Magic Studio, Brooklyn
Mixed by Mckenzie Stubbert
All lyrics by David Mosey
Music By David Mosey, Kristofer Widholm, Grant Parker, Bryan Garbe
Record cover art by Yoshi Sodeoka
Photography by Alice Teeple
