Album release day

YO.

ALBUM RELEASE DAY * THE PRIZE VIDEO * MORE LIVE DATES CONFIRMED * LAUREN LAVERNE SESSION – LISTEN AGAIN * REVIEWS * UPDATES AND REMINDERS * DEAD MAGICIAN * ROTTING WIG * SHERRY AND POPPERS

NEW ALBUM 'THE GHOST IN DAYLIGHT' OUT WORLDWIDE TODAY ON WARP RECORDS

So today is the big day – album release day. And what better way to celebrate the release of The Ghost In Daylight than to go out and buy it. It's available on gatefold CD, gatefold vinyl (with download code), and digital download. I personally believe that it is best appreciated sat in front of a strobe light in a windowless room accompanied by a glass of cheap sherry and a bottle of amyl nitrate.

Available worldwide from all good stores. Here's a brief selection of purchase links:
Rise, Piccadilly, Bleep, iTunes, Amazon

There has been some rather nice press coverage, with my personal favourite being “It's a real grave fave!” 8/10 - The Daily Star. Here is a selection of quotes.

"Warp's unsung genius delivers (a) mellow masterpiece... evocative of Nick Drake's understated English melancholia and the lush, moody atmospherics of late-'70s Brian Eno. An exquisite, unexpected gem" - Q ★★★★

“Terrific, understated songs with a church-like serenity... Talbot is one of music's best kept secrets” - The Guardian ★★★★

"A special album" - Stool Pigeon ★★★★

"Stunning" - Artrocker ★★★★★

“Seriously wonderful” – Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music

"Possibly Britain's most underrated singer/songwriter" - Telegraph ★★★★

“A truly unsettling heart of darkness...Talbot has created a uniquely potent blend of icy chill and soothing balm, and with it that rarest of things: totally cliché-dodging songwriting” - The Line Of Best Fit

"The Ghost in Daylight is a memory-haunted journey through the dead voices and deep narratives of Englands lost - broadside ballads culled from earth and air" - Mojo

"Il mêle à l’extrême délicatesse de ses compositions acoustiques dignes des grands maîtres du passé quelques touches électriques et électroniques qui contribuent à les transfigurer. Tout ici respire l’équilibre et la cohérence." - Magic 5/6

"Nick Drake trifft My Bloody Valentine, Simon & Garfunkel treffen Brian Eno – Talbot hat eine sehr gute Platte gemacht." - Rolling Stone 4/5

“A masterclass in restraint and subtlety... songs initially appear to be gentle, rueful folk ballads on cursory listen but a decent pair of headphones reveals deep pools of shimmering reverb and a submarine world of echo. These are still audio waters containing complex depths worth diving into, revisiting, pondering over, dwelling over, dwelling in.” - The Quietus

The Quietus review, written by John Doran is worth reading in full. You can do that here:
Mr. Doran is an exceptionally good writer, and because of his analytical skills and the depths they take him to, the result is a review that was rather difficult to pull pithy quotes from. It was written to be digested, not dissected.

NEW LONDON DATE - CECIL SHARP HOUSE
Plus new France show added

The historic Cecil Sharp House in London will be the venue for this show on Wednesday 26th September, which we have added because the St.Pancras Old Church and Lexington gigs sold out so quickly. This is our biggest UK headline show to date, and like all future shows, unless otherwise stated, this will be a Gravenhurst Ensemble show, consisting of me, Rachel Lancaster and Claire Adams. Tickets on sale now

We've added a date in Toulouse after a band contacted us through Facebook and requested our presence in their great city. Monday 28 May at Saint de Seins, Toulouse.

Full list of live dates and ticket links here

THE PRIZE 10"

There are a few copies left of the limited white and silver marbled 10” of The Prize. You can buy them from Bleep, Rough Trade, or Rise

The Prize is backed with a cover of Tim Buckley's Song To The Siren, which features a Cor Anglais solo played through a ventilation shaft above a sonic drum used to vibrate chicken carcasses, producing mechanically recovered meat for tasty pies, pasties and dog food. Which naturally brings us to...

THE PRIZE VIDEO

Director Jenny Coan's bewitching video for The Prize was premièred on the Arts Desk website where you can read a write up about it that I wrote (how about that for an elegant compound sentence):
www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/gravenhurst-interview-video-exclusive
Also available on YouTube

LAUREN LAVERNE SESSION

The New Gravenhurst Ensemble played live on the Lauren Laverne show on BBC 6 Music on Wednesday 25th of this month. “The Ghost Of Saint Paul” and “The Prize” were performed live and “The Foundry” was pre-recorded for broadcast later, possibly on another show; we are trying to track this down at the moment. You can listen again here.

Yours sincerely,

Nicholas Talbot

Dear Mr. Skeleton...

Dear Mr. Skeleton,

Are there going to be any more episodes of Ultraskull? I would like it if there were.

Yours,

Dom

Dear Dominininininic,

Thank you for your interest in Ultraskull. Mr. Skeleton is no longer the editor of Ultraskull; he was forced to leave two years ago after obscenity charges were filed against him in relation to one of his other publications, "Young and Hairy". Although the charges were quashed, the Ultraskull comittee felt that in the current moral climate, hounding an innocent man out of his job because of completely unfounded allegations was the only right thing to do.
The editor's position was quickly filled by Greg, assuming a caretaker role until a permanent replacement was found. However, Greg had to leave due to an unexpectedly long hospital stay. We were walking along a canal and he fell in, the silly billy. He can't swim, and I did my best to save him, but the current was too strong for me to reach him. I tried to throw out a long branch for him to hold onto, but in his confusion and panic, he allowed his head to collide with it. I threw him another, but again, he hit himself on the head with it. I found a rope and threw that out to him, but he somehow managed to get that wrapped around his throat, with the other end somehow tethered to a cement block. Luckily an Olympic swimmer was walking by, and he did what I valiantly tried but sadly failed to do. Greg was pulled to safety, but not before he had inhaled several pints of effluent. He was taken swiftly to intensive care where he was pronounced comatose. I stayed with him 24 hours a day, praying for him, reading to him, and just hoping for a sign, any sign. After a few days he responded to several cues, but somehow his life support system got switched off. He is now back in a coma, but the doctors say there is still hope. I am writing this at his bedside. There is still hope Greg. I'll never stop hoping Greg. Be strong.
Anyway, while all that shit was going on, Greg's bank manager tracked me down and started hounding me for cash. Because Greg doesn't have any family, I've ended up being his next of kin, and thereby the 'default guarantor' for his rent payments, bank charges, phone bills and whatever else the daft cunt signed up to. Meanwhile, I had no choice but to assume the editorship, moving from the small stipend awarded to bit-part characters, to an annual salary with a generous benefits package. Under my stewardship Ultraskull will be transformed from a grubby little rag into a monthly A4 format glossy lifestyle magazine, combining news features and reviews with sections dedicated to luxury items, investments and men's fashion. I anticipate that the first of the new look Ultraskull will be out some point in the next decade.
Thank you for your interest in Ultraskull.
Regards,
Stickman