https://craftingroomrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-along-the-shore
Five years in the making, new album ‘Dreams Along The Shore’ is principally about memory. Taking the beaches of Archie’s childhood as a steady constant, the 11-track set explores relationships that have drifted, people that have grown apart. It expresses both a longing to return to the past, and an acceptance of what’s changed, all told via the dreamy stylings of dark post punk, melodic dream pop, and ambient beauty.
The second half of the tracklisting follows Newquay beaches along the coastline; an ambitious way to represent the time spent walking across them as a child. The song ‘Towan’ emerged after a night swim in the bay with childhood friends.
“It felt like a special moment when it was happening; lying in the black water looking up at the stars. The track is about feeling existentially lost but finding meaning in the moments that happen with the people you love. It’s about trying to let go of some grand meaning to your life and just enjoying each day as it happens.”
Elsewhere, Archie leans deep into his love of experimental production. ‘Cheaper Than Polaroids’ is a standout, built around intricate tape loops that stretch across rooms, slide over mic stands and degrade beautifully in real time. Using a bank of borrowed tape machines, Archie created and mixed the haunting loops live, manipulating the textures into a drifting, ghostly backdrop that connects this track to the next. Across the album, sounds from real places filter in. Field recordings from Brighton, captured and looped across tape, form the backbone of ‘Across The City’, a track that feels both rooted and surreal.
“I liked the idea of building a soundscape from where I actually live – every bus stop, bit of traffic, or bird call felt like it belonged in the record. Recordings of the sea from across the UK made their way onto the album.”
‘Great Western’, another of the coastline tracks, blends droning guitars with lyrics about long-distance friendships and the difficulty of staying close to people over time. Archie pulled in drummer James Devine best known for work with Brighton’s New // Improved, Shady Baby, and Arcadia Residential – after meeting him while producing for local punk band Slimy Bench.
Most of the album was self-produced, mixed, mastered and recorded by Archie Sagers; ‘Tolcarne’, ‘Fistral’ and ‘Crantock’ feature production from Matthew Gleeson (Welly). This gave Archie complete creative control from writing to production and mastering to make exactly what he was working towards.
“Working to my own deadline gave me the opportunity to create something really ambitious mixing ambient experimentation with dream pop songwriting. It let me create something that captured my experience of moving away from home, living in a city, finding new friends and losing old ones. I started working on the album 5 years ago and I’m a completely different person to who I was then – the record has grown with me as well and now it’s time to let it go.”
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Paying artist fairly and supporting charity since 2019
Website – https://craftingroomrecordings.co.uk/
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Independent record label based in Brighton -Dream Pop – Indie Rock – Ambient Music – Founded 2019 by Archie Sagers