North Atlantic Oscillation release debut single Soft Coda

Posted on 27 April 2012
By Natasha Parker
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North Atlantic Oscillation release their stunning new record Soft Coda, the lead single from the highly anticipated record Fog Electric.

NAO are based in Edinburgh, made up of Sam Healy (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, programming) and Ben Martin (drums, synths, programming). They are joined live by Bill Walsh (bass, vocals) and Chris Howard (bass and synths).

Their debut single Soft Coda comes out next week, preceding the band’s moody, complex and diverse second record Fog Electric, released on April 30th through Kscope. They will also be playing a special album launch show at The Tabernacle Church in London’s Notting Hill on Wednesday 2nd May.

Soft Coda is four minutes of swooping electronics and delicately shimmering melodies, illustrated by a suitably beautiful and intricate video, directed by Paul Bloomfield and Tadashi Abe at Ploomers.

Fog Electric was recorded and co-produced by Tony Doogan (Super Furry Animals, Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian) and is the follow-up to Grappling Hooks, NAO‘s highly acclaimed debut, released in 2010.

The title, Fog Electric, taken from the lyric of album track Mirador, introduces a stormy theme that runs throughout the record’s sounds in the crashing electronics, delicate lulls, mystery and hidden soul beneath the surface: a leitmotif also reflected in the stylish and dramatic artwork.

“It’s an album about doubt and loss, but there’s a counterbalancing sense of resignation and even optimism too.” explains singer Sam Healy.

On the theme of the album, Sam said: “One of the main themes is searching for meaning in a scientific, post-religious world. Science is absolutely a force for good, but after it showed us that the physical world is all there is, and that far from stripping experiences of their mystery this revelation actually makes them more mysterious, it sort of left us to our own devices in terms of producing the unscripted, improvised drama that is life-minus-god.”

NAO will be performing songs from Fog Electric at a one-off show at The Tabernacle in London’s Notting Hill on Wednesday 2nd May.

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