{"id":71022,"date":"2024-04-27T19:19:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T17:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/?p=71022"},"modified":"2024-04-27T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T09:38:22","slug":"manchesters-the-speed-of-sound-celebrates-35th-anniversary-by-releasing-a-cornucopia-minerva-album-video-for-the-great-acceleration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/2024\/04\/27\/manchesters-the-speed-of-sound-celebrates-35th-anniversary-by-releasing-a-cornucopia-minerva-album-video-for-the-great-acceleration\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester\u2019s THE SPEED OF SOUND celebrates 35th anniversary by releasing \u2018A Cornucopia: Minerva\u2019 album & video for \u2018The Great Acceleration\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester indie rock psychonauts\u00a0The Speed Of Sound<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0presents their new album\u00a0<\/strong>‘A Cornucopia: Minerva’<\/strong><\/a>, their second album issued via\u00a0Big Stir Records<\/strong><\/a>, along with the video for\u00a0‘The Great Acceleration’<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0– the second single from the album, following up\u00a0‘West Wind’<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hailing from Manchester, The Speed Of Sound is made up of father and son\u00a0John Armstrong<\/strong>\u00a0(guitars and vocals) and\u00a0Henry Armstrong<\/strong>\u00a0(keyboards),\u00a0Ann-Marie Crowley<\/strong>\u00a0(vocals and guitar),\u00a0Kevin Roache<\/strong>\u00a0(bass guitar) and\u00a0John Broadhurst<\/strong> (drums).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Full of ambition, energy, and eccentric melodic brilliance, this is the first record of the three-album set<\/strong>‘A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty’<\/a><\/strong> <\/strong>from these future-retro-modernist garage-psych stalwarts. While these albums will see digital editions over the next year, the Vinyl and CD versions are 3-disc sets carrying the umbrella title ‘A Cornucopia’. Released as deluxe editions, each set includes two full-length bonus albums ‘Victory’ <\/strong>and ‘Bounty’<\/strong>. But it all begins with ‘Minerva’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With ‘A Cornucopia: Minerva’ <\/strong><\/a>coinciding with the band\u2019s 35th anniversary, The Speed Of Sound returns triumphant, defiant and redemptive, following up their 2021 critically acclaimed album ‘Museum Of Tomorrow’<\/strong><\/a>. Named for the goddess associated with wisdom, the arts and strategic warfare, this album explores themes of resistance to mainstream cultural dominance, championing individual identity and artistic creativity whilst being a vigorous musical celebration of subcultural existence in the face of predominantly bland pop culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Minerva’ presents 14 fresh and variegated tracks, each one a burst of differently-hued radio friendly sonic technicolor. These new pieces range from the recklessly fast Bo Diddley rhythm successfully merged with a Wagnerian horn section of lead single <\/strong>‘West Wind’<\/strong><\/a> to the haunting and spacious ballad critiquing Economic Theory that is ‘Trickledown’<\/strong> to the stripped back mediaeval folk-tinged starkness of ‘The Harvest’ <\/strong>to the stratospheric vastness of ‘The Great Acceleration’<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The album passes seamlessly through the acoustic guitar-driven groove of ‘SS-100-X’,<\/strong> the spacious iridescence of ‘Eight Fourteen Monday’<\/strong>, the lively ascendence of ‘The Party Sniper’<\/strong>, the glowing radioactivity metaphor of ‘Half Life’ <\/strong>to the bright uplifting dementia and identity-loss focused ‘Mind Palace’<\/strong>. While the bouncing vibe of ‘Bodysnatchers’ <\/strong>reminds us to stay awake and not slip into the drabness of normalcy, the crunching melodic punch of ‘Clickbait’ <\/strong>zings into the typewriter introduction of ‘Yet Another Tuesday’<\/strong>, onwards to the punkifed rhythm and blues of ‘So Faux’<\/strong> and the closing acoustic riot of ‘Question Time’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With their inbuilt eclectic and genre-defying style, The Speed Of Sound expand from their base-camp foundation of multiple 1960s, punk and new wave influences, encompassing wide dynamic and stylistic variation, crossing borders and pushing boundaries at every opportunity while retaining continuity. The music bursts with experimentation whilst retaining hooks and melodic sensibility, plus the sharp barbed wit, lyrical depth and all-pervading sense of joy that form the irrepressible, uplifting hallmarks of this band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout their 35-year history, The Speed Of Sound have continuously produced music laced with optimism and lyrical bite, tapping the DIY ethos of punk and the restless lust for experimentation of psychedelia. Formed in 1989 with a pre-history dating back to the day Andy Warhol died in 1987, their music has always been idiosyncratic, counter-intuitive and perpetually looking for something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April 26, ‘Minerva’ is available in both formats from Big Stir Records via\u00a0Bandcamp<\/strong><\/a>. Even better – dive into the jam-packed triple LP and CD editions of ‘A Cornucopia’.<\/p>\n\n\n

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TRACK LIST<\/strong>
01. West Wind (2:39)
02. SS-100-X (3:13)
03. Eight Fourteen Monday (2:59)
04. The Party Sniper (People Down There) (3:09)
05. Half Life (2:47)
06. Mind Palace (3:09)
07. The Great Acceleration (4:26)
08. The Harvest (2:28)
09. Bodysnatchers (2:20)
10. Trickledown (3:23)
11. Clickbait (2:39)
12. Yet Another Tuesday (2:54)
13. So Faux (2:59)
14. Question Time (2:53)<\/p>\n\n\n

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CREDITS<\/strong>
All songs written by John Armstrong
John Armstrong – guitars and vocals
Ann-Marie Crowley – vocals and guitars
Kevin Roache – bass guitar
John Broadhurst – drums
Henry Armstrong – keyboards
Bob Dinn – trumpet and flugelhorn
Chris Guest – harmonium, vibraphone, organ, shakers, tambourine
Alex Armstrong – typewriter on ‘Yet Another Tuesday’
Voices on ‘Mind Palace’ by Janet Stacey Dando, Henry Armstrong, Nick Frater, Jason Edge (courtesy of The Electric Stars), John Broadhurst, Mark Britton (courtesy of Amoeba Teen), Janet Armstrong, Louise Turner, Peter Watts & Ruth Rogers (courtesy of Spygenius) and Kevin Roache, plus Ivy Frater (heartbeat)
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Vibratone Sound Studio in Manchester by Chris Guest, Adam Crossley and The Speed Of Sound.
Main sleeve image: Purple Spaceman \u00a9\u00a0Lina Landers<\/a>\u00a02022
Artist photographs by Shay Rowan
Publicity by\u00a0Shameless Promotion PR<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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FOR SHARING<\/strong>
‘The Great Acceleration’<\/strong>https:\/\/youtu.be\/LCGSCo9xj3g<\/a>
‘A Cornucopia: Minerva’ CD & vinyl order<\/strong>https:\/\/bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-cornucopia-minerva<\/a>
‘West Wind’ single <\/strong>https:\/\/youtu.be\/2g1JlCuKZso<\/a>
Spotify<\/strong>https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/5fgADipIGJylWUvTbAMdbg<\/a>
Get the ‘West Wind’ single<\/strong>https:\/\/orcd.co\/speedofsound-ww<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOR SHARING & AIRPLAY<\/strong>
‘Minerva’ album preview <\/strong>https:\/\/promo.theorchard.com\/breu9vaFs7nrhj5FW6ae<\/a>
Online press kit<\/strong>https:\/\/haulix.promo\/avnn<\/a>
Download via Google Drive<\/strong>https:\/\/bit.ly\/3eVijGE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Buzzing fuzz guitar lines emerge from a delicate acoustic introduction to intersect with the crashing chords and the \u2018bulbous pulsing\u2019 rhythm section”<\/em>\u00a0~\u00a0Record Collector Magazine<\/strong>
“Raw and edgy sound with guiding and invigorating sense of melody”\u00a0<\/em>~\u00a0The Spill Magazine<\/strong>
\u201cUnmistakeable sound a winning formula\u201d<\/em>\u00a0~\u00a0The Big Takeover<\/strong>
\u201cA triumph of industry, imagination and talent, coolly novel and damned addictive\u201d<\/em>~\u00a0Louder Than War<\/strong>
\u2018Unique and other worldly\u201d\u00a0<\/em>~\u00a0Vive Le Rock<\/strong>
\u201cA form of Art-Pop that is wry, incisive, yet a deeply listenable examination of post industrial culture\u201d\u00a0<\/em>~\u00a0Rock At Night<\/strong>
“A riotous maelstrom of musical mayhem\u201d<\/em>\u00a0~\u00a0The Manc Review<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep up with The Speed of Sound<\/strong>
Website<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Mastadon<\/a> | Soundcloud<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a> | Spotify<\/a> | Press contact<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep up with Big Stir Records<\/strong>
Website<\/a> | Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | Mixcloud<\/a> | YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR<\/strong>
Website <\/a>| Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Soundcloud<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | Spotify<\/a> | LinkedIn<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manchester indie rock psychonauts\u00a0The Speed Of Sound\u00a0presents their new album\u00a0‘A Cornucopia: Minerva’, their second album…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Manchester indie rock psychonauts\u00a0The Speed Of Sound\u00a0presents their new album\u00a0'A Cornucopia: Minerva', their second album issued via\u00a0Big Stir Records.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Manchester\u2019s THE SPEED OF SOUND celebrates 35th anniversary by releasing \u2018A Cornucopia: Minerva\u2019 album.","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[121,5,145],"tags":[15686,9630,194,723,3672,9629],"class_list":["post-71022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anteprime","category-news","category-out-now","tag-art-pop-2","tag-big-stir-records","tag-indie-rock","tag-psych","tag-shameless-promotion-pr","tag-the-speed-of-sound"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/TheSpeedofSoundcd.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jNPU-itw","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64838,"url":"https:\/\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/2022\/11\/02\/manchester-art-rock-stalwarts-the-speed-of-sound-present-haunting-charlotte-12-version-from-new-double-a-side-single\/","url_meta":{"origin":71022,"position":0},"title":"Manchester art-rock stalwarts THE SPEED OF SOUND present haunting ‘Charlotte 12″ version’ from new double A-side single","author":"Exhimusic - Percorsi nella musica","date":"02\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Manchester indie rock outfit The Speed Of Sound presents their new video for 'Charlotte 12\" Version', which is the second track included in the new\u00a0'Virtual Reality 123 \/ Charlotte 12\" Version' single released via Big Stir Records. Just like a classic 12\u201d single, each track clocks in at over 6\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NEWS"","block_context":{"text":"NEWS","link":"https:\/\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/TheSpeedofSound-Shay_Rowan.jpg?fit=600%2C458&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/TheSpeedofSound-Shay_Rowan.jpg?fit=600%2C458&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/TheSpeedofSound-Shay_Rowan.jpg?fit=600%2C458&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61579,"url":"https:\/\/www.exhimusic.com\/magazine\/2021\/09\/17\/uk-power-pop-veterans-the-speed-of-sound-release-museum-of-tomorrow-lp-a-sign-of-future-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":71022,"position":1},"title":"UK power pop veterans The Speed of Sound release ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ LP, a sign of future times","author":"Exhimusic - 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A wistful torch ballad paying homage to a district of London, whose former culture has been long eroded. The song features a guest appearance on sax by rising artist Finola. 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