The late ’90s called, and they want their music news back. Pram, one of the most original English “Alternative” (when was the last time you saw that word in print!?) bands of yesteryear, have announced their first full-length album since 2007. Across The Meridian will be out through Domino on July 20 and is preceded now by the video for instrumental single “Shimmer and Disappear,” which you can view down below.
Variously classified as post-rock, prog-rock, lounge-core, and “cinematic krautrock,” Pram were an important precursor to Ghost Box’s hauntology: a genre of retro-minded pop music whose sole MO was to conjure the eerie feelings one has when reminiscing about a future that never materialized. Over nine albums and a fifteen-year career, Pram had perfected a wonderfully insular sound that relied on evoking the memories of monsters under the bed, B-movie scores, and vintage synthesizers — a sound that put them in the same league as Stereolab, Broadcast, and this guy.
Sadly re-uniting without founding member and singer Rosie Cuckston, the group now consists of Matt Eaton, Sam Owen, Max Simpson and Harry Dawes. Across The Meridian was recorded in Foel studios in Wales, and, according to Eaton, “It’s slightly more hi-fi than previous albums with digital tech making everything more possible.” Well…at least SOMETHING is better now than it was 11 years ago.
Across the Meridian tracklisting:
01. Shimmer and Disappear
02. Thistledown
03. Electra
04. Wave of Translation
05. Shadow in Twilight
06. Ladder to the Moon
07. The Midnight Room
08. Footprints Towards Zero
09. Mayfly
10. Sailing Stones
11. Where the Sea Stops Moving
12. Doll’s Eyes