Hidden Shoal Recordings Release Debut Monocle Album

Nov. 27, 2007 - PRLog -- The Australian music label, Hidden Shoal Recordings have announced the release of the brilliant new album Outer Sunset by New York indie pop outfit Monocle.

From the opening strains of ‘Emmanuelle’, Monocle immediately set about wrapping you up in a blanket of dizzying hypnotic pop. Moving from bossa fuelled dark night car rides to lush shoegaze tinged astral rock, Monocle’s first full-length, Outer Sunset reflects a decidedly edgier, denser approach both compositionally and performance-wise than their debut EP.

Tracks such as ‘Music of Space’ and ‘Airphase’ present some of the best newgaze pop you will hear this year leaving behind the often overbearing austerity and replacing it with an innate melancholic warmth and energy. ‘Agent Earle’ kicks off in what initially feels like parody but in true Monocle style turns itself on its head with dark chiming guitars and warning vocals only to then perform a third chameleon act slipping the listener into a blurred star belt.

Where on first listen it may be easy to finger reference points such as Stereolab, Can and Lush when describing Monocle’s sound and musical vision, successive listens reveal much more. With a charming immediacy that belies its underlying complexity Monocle have produced a masterpiece of magnetic pop. As the last track fades you find yourself immediately reaching over to the play button for another round.

On Outer Sunset Monocle have developed the inimitable craft of creating sparkling and polished pop that is laden with a sense of darkness, warmth, humour and mystery.
Rich Bennett curiously slept through just about every night of his infancy and grew up dreaming through his days. Involved in many musical projects over the years, he began to retreat back to the bedroom, that familiar place to sleep, dream and play. Inspired by the ethereal-but-intense sonic landscapes of Stereolab, Komeda, Kraftwerk and others, he put together old Nomad organs, shoegaze guitars, electronic drums, and fleshed out ideas that had been fermenting for a long time, producing the initial demos that laid the groundwork for Monocle’s four-song EP, Lounge Act. The combination of sugary pop, dark lyrics and heavy sounds set Monocle firmly on its path.

“Imagine, if you will, the somnambulant bliss of Broadcast mixed up with that distinctive Slint-style bass, the playful bossa of a throwaway Stereolab B-side and, perhaps most strikingly – a great big nod towards the glamorous-yet-underachieving shoegazers Lush” – Vinyl Vulture

Monocle’s Outer Sunset will be released through Hidden Shoal Recordings on November 27th, 2007. The album will see an initial digital release followed by US CD release early 2008.

Hidden Shoal Recordings current catalogue includes releases that slip between the edges of experimental ambient work, shoegazing pop, post-rock and indie rock. The label has earned a reputation for releasing exciting and engaging new independent music that is not bound by genre or style.

Label Site: http://music.hiddenshoal.com

Website: music.hiddenshoal.com