Oh I know, it’s only the first day of 2009 but this record from Belfast’s Burning Codes deserves to be released at the start of a new beginning. Given the excesses I can’t think of anything as pure and cleansing as this. Paul Archer’s (Burning Codes leadman) gospel fuelled emissions are a thing of beauty and serenity, a perfect calming sensation, deep reflection put to music. We’ve been enamoured by the band for a while now and they’ll always hold a special place in our hearts as they opened our very first compilation back in June of last year. Burning Codes is an absorbing listen, something that can easily play in the background as you stitch your plans together for the forthcoming year. This is the perfect slowdown for a world that gets more frenetic by the day. Burning Codes originally came out in late October 2008 and should you wish to buy the CD instead of our digital offering please visit the Burning Codes website.
We spoke to Paul recently and asked him to give us the background to the recording of the album.
Basically I’d been living in The Fens since coming over from Belfast in March. During this time I was writing, singing, touring, and playing with my previous band, the Ghears (now on a break). Through a set of various circumstances we were given an opportunity to move to a large wooden bungalow in a quiet village high up in the forest, above the village itself just beyond the town of Corby. We had a lot of hard work and commuting for many months to get the house ready as it required extensive work. When we had a housewarming my brother Iain came up from London with his old pro tools rig and he very kindly loaned it to me. I stared at it for about 3 months thinking ‘but I’m used to 4-tracks, then studios and engineers etc.’. Iain kept calling me and asking, ‘Have you done anything yet?’ Finally 3 months later I thought, the only way I’m really gonna be able to do this is really to disable my songwriting conventions and to try to make myself as vulnerable as possible and fly by the seat of my pants and see what happens. Very strangely this seemed to unlock these long hidden inner messages almost like pulling out a plug and many of these codes are flowed out! I would sit in my large white studio room looking out at the trees, watching the wind blow the branches, sometimes even encountering deer and the like and I found a whole new kind of place, a massive place full of light and hope, empathy and discovery, experimentation, melody, innate feeling and expression, harmony, vulnerability and great awe…
Burning Codes certainly is different (although the keen eared amongst you may hear latter day Spiritualised creeping through) and we’re so proud to offer this album to you. It costs €4 which gets you all 11 tracks (+1) and the original artwork and lyrics. As a bonus this digital release also includes a glimpse of Burning Codes next album. The Away demo is completely realised but Paul has plans to take it in a different direction when his sophomore is recorded with the help of several friends sometime in the near future.
Press
…As quietly awesome and deeply intimate as catching the first glimpse of dawn from a secret solitary place…
…an album of quiet warmth; perfectly suited to the cold Winter months…
…Indiecater have started oh nine with a very nice new release from Belfast’s Burning Codes…
…a choral triumph…
Elsewhere
Quiet Color, 2 U I Bestow, Indie Limerick, Largehearted Boy, Mulley, Swear I’m Not Paul.
I just checked out the Myspace and this is one of the best things I have heard in a long time.
Downloaded mainly as it was cheap, fancied seeing what paul was up to these days ( not seen gears in years) . Wow. So glad i did. One of the most beautiful recordings i’ve heard in years. And burning codes 2 comes out this month. I’m Impressed.
Steve, Burning Codes 2 will be released on Indiecater in just a few weeks. Kevin