Unsettling ambient electronica from weird north west
Who they?
Her Majesty’s Coroner For Wirral is Neil Grant, the Merseyside producer who also releases work under the name of Lo Five and is one of the brains behind Liverpool’s Emotion Wave, a regular night of lo-fi and left of field electronica. While his other projects have rightfully attracted many admirers, the compulsion to listen to this latest piece comes from a much darker place…
Why Her Majesty’s Coroner For Wirral?
‘Europa Pools’ is based around an idea that the artist formed while visiting the real-life leisure centre of the same name. “It’s a patchwork quilt” explains Grant, “but the combination of environment, narrative and the fact that it’s such a familiar space, it just seems to resonate with people. It’s definitely the darkest thing I’ve ever done”. Constructed around a dark, fictional narrative, the tracks build a scene that suggests horseplay. “No running, no diving” is the last thing the record’s protagonist should worry about.
Tell us more…
The album is unsettling to say the least, Grant’s sound design leading us in and out of the water, through reverberating municipal spaces and to an untimely, murderous end – all accompanied by field recordings and affecting melodic snippets. But while it has some of the retro tones and textures of 80’s Carpenter schlock, Grant’s production is more experimental and angular, like the soundtrack to a modern thriller. Forget Scandi-noire, Grant just invented Kirby-noire.
Europa Pools is available to download at: hermajestyscoronerforwirral.bandcamp.com
