"an album of spare, striking beauty" Mojo ★★★★
“...a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake” UNCUT 8/10

Produced by Greg Freeman (Portico Quartet, Peter Gabriel, Amy Winehouse) and recorded at StudiOwz, a converted chapel in the Welsh countryside, A Dark Murmuration of Words takes Barker’s clear, expressive vocals and warm acoustic aesthetic and subtly shifts her sound in the direction of contemporaries such as Laura Marling and Phoebe Bridgers. Lyrically probing, by turns both dark and optimistic, Barker searches for meaning through the deafening clamour of fake news and algorithmically filtered conversation, delivering a timely exploration of the grand themes of our age through the lens of what it means to return “home.”

Alluding to the album’s title, Barker references American writer Emily Dickinson: “ ‘If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves’ – like the starlings in a murmuration, where the movement of each individual bird is related to just seven of its closest neighbours, none of them aware of the mesmerising, fluctuating patterns being created by the flock.” 

Throughout the ten songs that make up the album, Barker draws connections between the familial, the local, and the global: a mother sings to her unborn child, asking for its forgiveness on ‘Strange Weather’; ‘When Stars Cannot Be Found’ explores the humbleness and comfort of the night sky when far away from home. Other highlights include the nostalgic ‘Return Me’, the gloriously defiant ‘Machine’ and the effortless album closer ‘Sonogram’.

Singular creative entity, a small unknowable thing, new album out 13.08.21

Daylight is a unique performance platform for both up and coming and already established musicians. Conceived and presented by the Union Chapel it has been providing a showcase for the development of musical talent.

Established musicians are able to broaden their public profile and experiment with new musical forms and material. Up and coming musicians get the chance to cut their teeth at one of London’s top music venues and work together with well known artists.

Daylight provides London with a new and exciting way to listen to music completely free of charge. Daylight counteracts the commercialisation of music by having a system where the currency traded is music alone. No money changes hands, the concerts are free and accessible to all.

The concerts showcase a wide range of musical genres including contemporary acoustic, electronica, chill out and classical. This combination of musical genres mixed with the high gothic naturally chilled environment of the Union Chapel lends the concerts a very special quality.

'Rome Pays Off' are an active diversion for Mark Beazley & Crawford Blair, two founding members of Rothko, the original bass-troika minimaldronewhathaveyou.
They have completed a record entitled 'There's No Simple Explanation' which will be released some time in late Sept or possibly early October.
The record's sound is that of two stereo bass guitars, drone, piano and some very faint reaKtor arpeggio. 
Many of the tracks are simple duets that took just a little longer to record than they did to write. 
This does not mean however, that the record is improvised.
For live performances they are joined by Chris Gowers who plays tabletop treated guitar, as he also likes to do in the bands Karina ESP and Signals.
The record will be released as a short run on Trace Recordings, and in accordance with the long-tail theory there will be boutique material generated for those who purchase possibly a beautiful, very long-form drone piece featuring all three members.
We are even considering making 50 bespoke mixes of a RPO song available, attributed and dedicated to each of it's sole buyers, for a reasonable fee of course. This idea may not fly.


Sultry disco-botherer Citizen Helene is a singer, songwriter and guitarist based in London.

Helene has been compared to matrons of 60’s pop Margo Guryan, Karen Carpenter and Joni Mitchell, while her intricate electric guitar playing, insightful lyrics and incredible outfits could sit anywhere between Grace Jones and Todd Rundgren.

Her sunshine pop and caramel vocals have been described as ‘baroque and beautiful’ by Darian Sahanaja of the Brian Wilson Band and like ‘bonkers English pop-sike crossed with a honey-soaked Californian sunset’.

Since moving from Dorset to London in 2004, Helene has supported artists with a kindred sound, including the High Llamas, Ed Harcourt and Liam Bailey. She’s also collaborated with musicians as diverse as Kiran Leonard, Darren Hayman and The Memory Band. In addition, Helene is a singer and percussionist in former Death in Vegas guitarist Ian Button’s band, Papernut Cambridge, and sings and plays guitar with Mary Epworth.

Helene’s first EP ‘Citizen Helene’ was released in 2011 on her own label, Fair Maiden Records. Produced by Jeremy Radway (Player Piano), the EP received national and local radio airplay (BBC 6 Music, BBC London, Amazing Radio) and features BBC Folk Award-winning guitarist Sam Carter and avant-garde string ensemble the Elysian Quartet. 

Helene is set to release her 7′′ single, ‘How Can You Find Someone To Love / Bridges’ on wiaiwya records on 7th June.

'Like the love child of Karen Carpenter and Brian Wilson' –Word Magazine

'Her voice. It’s like hot chocolate being poured in your ears' –We Write Lists

'A wonderful voice and a real talent has been discovered – highly recommended' –No Ripcord

Ever since their debut event at The Hayward Gallery in March 2006, the Arctic Circle have been driven by a mad passion to create concerts that are perfectly formed and memorable. They will move land and sea to bring talented musicians, composers and visual artists to London’s best venues, ensuring that each concert is a once in a lifetime event.

Although they feel most at home at London's Union Chapel, Arctic Circle produce, programme and promote events at many different venues encompassing a broad range of acts and genres. Over the last three years they have not only played host to established artists, but are always on the lookout for new talent and specialise in showcasing emerging acts on the brink of wider renown.

Not just a promoter you can also now catch up with Arctic Circle Radio at www.jointhecircle.net/radio. The Hut is a weekly show bringing you a whole manner of sonic delights, The Circle is an exclusive mix brought to you by a guest artist from the Arctic Circle family. In a further extension of the Arctic Circle'scollective talents have come two 'Fuzzy Feeling' releases as well as the ambitious Explorers' Club series in conjunction with Loaf Recordings.

The Arctic Circle showers its audiences with the world's finest musicians and bands in a unique, strictly penguin friendly environment that seeks to upend the traditional, the formal and the pretentious.

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