Nostalgia 77 - The Sleepwalking Society [2011]

Nostalgia 77’s long-awaited fourth studio album, ‘The Sleepwalking Society’, featuring the vocals of German singer Josa Peit, is out on 21st March 2011 on Tru Thoughts.

‘The Sleepwalking Society’ comes almost four years after ‘Everything Under The Sun’ – the last Nostalgia 77 studio album proper – in which time Benedic Lamdin has been busy as producer, engineer, musician and more on projects involving Keith and Julie Tippett, Jeb Loy Nichols, Lizzy Parks, Larry Stabbins, Alice Russell, Sara Mitra, Fringe Magnetic, Golden Age of Steam and his own Octet. Nostalgia 77’s fervent fanbase has been clamouring for his return and can now rest assured that it has been worth the wait, as the spoils of those extra-curricular excursions inform a refreshed stylistic palette and intensity on the new LP.

Although Nostalgia 77 is widely known as a jazz producer (with plaudits including the John Peel ‘Play More Jazz’ award, and Gilles Peterson’s Jazz Track of the Year) ‘The Sleepwalking Society’ is rich with overtones of blues and folk and runs the whole range of influences from the different styles of music that he loves. “It feels great to provide another chapter in the Nostalgia 77 story…each time I return with more ideas and experiences from working on projects with other musicians”, says Lamdin.

The album announces its arrival with the ramshackle Tom Waits style stomp of the rhythm track to “Sleepwalker”, paired with horn textures reminiscent of Duke Ellington. The English folk of Bert Jansch influences “Beautiful Lie”; the single, “Simmerdown” (out 28th February) is one part church song and one part soul. “Golden Morning” – more interlude than song – is a shimmering ray of uplifting psychedelic folk to make the transition into “When Love Is Strange”, a full on break beat Sun Ra style arrangement that provides the heaviest moment on the record, care of Tim Giles’ heroic drumming. It echoes the ambitious, instrumental live jazz of Nostalgia 77 Octet, but heavier. And in addition to the aesthetic progression, in content ‘The Sleepwalking Society’ is the most autobiographical Nostalgia 77 work yet, drawing on the subjects of commitment (“Cherries”) and impending fatherhood (“Mockingbird”): very much more a songwriter’s album – a direction inspired significantly by his work producing for Jeb Loy Nichols.