''Machineries of Joy'' is a studio album by British indie rock band
Sea Power
Sea Power, previously known as British Sea Power and initially as British Air Powers, are an English alternative rock band. The group's original lineup consisted of Jan Scott Wilkinson, known as Yan; Martin Noble, known as Noble; and Alison Co ...
, then known as "British Sea Power". It was released in April 2013 on the
Rough Trade
Rough Trade may refer to:
*Rough Trade (shops), London record stores
*Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores
*Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label
*Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band
* "Rough Trade" (''Am ...
record label.
The album's title track was released as a single in February 2013 in advance of the album release.
To promote the album, the band announced a UK tour in April 2013.
The album reached #2 on the UK indie album chart, and #19 on the regular chart. It also debuted at #15 on the Irish indie album chart.
Track listing
Rough Trade announced the track listing as follows.
# "Machineries of Joy" – 6:18
# "K Hole" – 3:25
# "Hail Holy Queen" – 3:20
# "Loving Animals" – 5:10
# "What You Need The Most" – 5:41
# "Monsters of Sunderland" – 3:11
# "Spring Has Sprung" – 3:54
# "Radio Goddard" – 3:19
# "A Light Above Descending" – 4:11
# "When A Warm Wind Blows Through The Grass" – 4:40
Initial copies of the album were bundled with a bonus EP containing 5 tracks:
# "Facts Are Right" – 2.58
# "Fingertips" – 4.39
# "Baby Grey" – 4.35
# "Lullaby For What You Are" – 3.20
# "Chrysanthemum" – 4.27
Production
The band started writing the songs that would form the album at the start of 2012. These were released in the form of "enhanced demos" on limited edition EPs (see section ''
BSP EP1-6''). Later in the year, the band spent two weeks in the Welsh mountains working on completing the songs.
They recorded the album in Brighton in November 2012.
Album title
The name of the album (and its title track) comes from a collection of short stories by
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...
, ''
The Machineries of Joy
''The Machineries of Joy'' (1964) is a collection of Short story, short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury.
Contents
* "The Machineries of Joy"
* "The One Who Waits"
* "Tyrannosaurus Rex"
* "The Vacation"
* "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
* "B ...
''.
Bradbury's work has influenced the band's songwriting in the past: "Something Wicked" (from ''
The Decline of British Sea Power'') refers to Bradbury's novel ''
Something Wicked This Way Comes'' and "Georgie Ray" (from ''
Valhalla Dancehall'') alludes in part to Bradbury.
''BSP EP1-6''
British Sea Power began working on the songs which would form the album in the first half of 2012, releasing six limited-edition demo EPs, one at each of their monthly ''Krankenhaus'' club nights in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
.
Each is titled simply ''BSP EPx'' (sometimes described as simply ''BSP x''), 'x' running from 1 to 6.
The cover of each EP features a picture of a bird or animal wearing a hat, drawn by band member Yan (Scott Wilkinson).
''BSP EP1''
# "French Pornographic Novel"
# "Lullaby For What You Are"
# "Baby Grey"
# "A Light Above Descending"
# "Fiery"
''BSP EP2''
# "Things Have A Way of Working Out"
# "Up Against It"
# "Loving Animals"
# "Machineries of Joy"
# "Motorway South"
''BSP EP3''
# "K Hole"
# "What You Need The Most"
# "When A Warm Wind Blows Through The Grass"
# "Brand New Century"
# "Evening Will Come We Will Sew The Blue Sail"
''BSP EP4''
# "Facts Not Right"
# "Fingertips"
# "Spring Has Sprung"
# "Monsters of Sunderland"
# "To The Show"
''BSP EP5''
# "Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow"
# "Wishful Thinking"
# "Radio Goddard"
# "Did You Recognise Yourself"
# "Scafell Hotel"
# "Wishful Thinking (bonus mix)"
''BSP EP6''
# "Warzone"
# "Sausage Roll?"
# "Dance Party"
# "Beautiful Fountains"
# "Hail Holy Queen"
# "Chrysanthemum"
# "Unto The End"
References
{{Authority control
Sea Power albums
2013 albums
Rough Trade Records albums