Noctorum, a duo comprised of guitarist/singer-songwriter Marty Willson-Piper and producer Dare Mason, present their new single ‘The Moon Drips’ ahead of their fourth album ‘The Afterlife’ and following the singles ‘Piccadilly Circus in the Rain’ and ‘A Girl With No Love’.
This is the duo’s first long-play in seven years. Slated for release on February 15, this album will be made available on heavy-weight gatefold vinyl, CD and digitally via Schoolkids Records. Fortunate PledgeMusic contributors received an advance copy after Noctorum’s campaign successfully achieved 113% of its target for the album.
‘The Moon Drips’ is the album’s opening track. It tells the tale of a perilous journey on a mysterious caravan that takes the unwitting across the Texan-Mexican border to a geographically impossible jump, landing in Bohemia and Prussia. As these two worlds collide, winds howl, trumpets blast, violins yearn and 19th century sequencers outmode harpsichords as creatures of the night fly silhouetted against the glowing disc of the moon, a backdrop for realised shadows as they pounce on reality itself.
Named for the village Noctorum, located near to their childhood homes on The Wirral (near Liverpool), Dare and Marty liked its association with night and its Latin derivation. This collaboration has an eclectic focus, making the quiet loud and vice-versa, singing words that might be spoken and playing indoor instruments that should be heard outside. It has to be imagined to exist.
Formed in 2002, Noctorum released their debut album ‘Sparks Lane’ on Heyday Records in 2003. In 2006, they followed up with the album ‘Offer The Light’ on that same label, later re-releasing it as a digipak in 2010 via Second Motion Records. Heyday released their third album ‘Honey Mink Forever’ in 2011.
Marty Willson-Piper has been writing and performing internationally for over 35 years. He is best known as a long-time member of Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, who he was with from its inception through to 2013. He joined All About Eve in the ’90s, releasing two studio albums and several live albums with them. He is also lead singer and lyricist with Swedish band MOAT and a touring member of Swedish Prog legends Anekdoten. Since the mid-1980s, Willson-Piper has maintained a steady solo output, releasing six solo studio albums and three live solo albums to date. He has also co-written music with many artists, including Grace Slick, Aimee Mann, Susannah Hoffs and Linda Perry.
As a house engineer at London’s world famous Townhouse Studios, Dare Mason has worked with the likes of Prince, Paul McCartney, Boy George, Tina Turner, Ravi Shankar and Soul II Soul, among others. After becoming a freelance producer/engineer in 1991, he produced albums for The Grid, The Church, Placebo and AC Acoustics, working in London, New York, Sydney and Stockholm. He finally moved to Cornwall, where he set up the VIP Lounge studio in 2001. Nowadays, Dare is mainly known as a mixing engineer, having mixed recordings by Brix Smith (ex The Fall), Cinerama and Tommy Tokyo. Dare is also a composer, songwriter and accomplished guitarist, singer and dabbler in keyboards, usually contributing musically to the artists he produces.
All three singles are now available across online stores and streaming platforms like Spotify. The full album ‘The Afterlife’ album will be released on February 15, and can now be ordered in all formats via Schoolkids Records.
CREDITS
Marty Willson-Piper – lead vocal, electric lead and rhythm guitars, bass, swedish cittra
Dare Mason – keyboards, backing vocals
Olivia Willson-Piper – backing vocals
Richard Evans – trumpet
Steve Jackson – drums
Written and produced by Marty Willson-Piper & Dare Mason
Lyrics by Marty Willson-Piper
Recorded and mixed by Dare Mason at the VIP Lounge, Penzance, England
Mastered by Poppy Weinberger for Riverfish Mastering
Design by Olivia Willson-Piper & Lizzie Tucker
TOUR DATES
Mar 14 LONDON, UK – The Betsey Trotwood (downstairs) SOLD OUT
Mar 15 LONDON, UK – The Betsey Trotwood (upstairs) SOLD OUT
Mar 17 BIRMINGHAM, UK – Kitchen Garden Cafe
Mar 18 BRISTOL, UK – Salt Cafe
Mar 19 MANCHESTER, UK – Gullivers Lounge
Mar 20 LEEK, UK – Foxlowe Arts Centre
Mar 21 EDINBURGH, Scotland – The Voodoo Rooms
Mar 22 LIVERPOOL, UK – Smithdown Social Club
Keep up with Noctorum / Marty Willson-Piper
Noctorum website | Marty website | Pledge Music | Facebook | Marty Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Soundcloud | Spotify
