Martin Jenkins, aka Pye Corner Audio, has been making haunted techno and eerie ambient music for well over a decade now. Releasing the cassette series The Black Mills Tapes in the early 2010s, then putting out a run of LPs that have proven influential and inspiring in the hauntology/library music genres. Pye Corner Audio is a musical island unto itself, and that island exists on low key dance beats and wobbly melodies.
With standalone albums like Prowler, Let’s Emerge!, and Entangled Routes offering up eerie escapism and head bopping beats, the trilogy of Sleep Games, Statis, and Hollowed Earth were a breath of fresh air for electronic music. Jenkins is adamant about building moods and worlds on his albums, but not at the expense of an emotional center in the music. Melodies hang in the air as four on the floor beats emerge from the ether. A sonic wormhole to other dimensions opens when PCA emanates through the speakers; equal parts cosmic, Gothic, and organic.
On April 5th, 2024 Pye Corner Audio – working once again with Ghost Box – will be releasing the brand new The Endless Echo. The last Pye Corner Audio LP, Let’s Emerge!, took the hazy world of PCA and shed some light on it. There was an air of optimism and positive energy with Let’s Emerge!(with some assistance from Ride and Oasis’ Andy Bell), where as The Endless Echo puts us back in the gray area we’ve come to know and love about Jenkins’ work. It’s classic Pye Corner Audio, and one of the best albums of 2024.
Here’s what Ghost Box had to say about The Endless Echo:
“The Endless Echo is the fifth album on Ghost Box for the highly prolific Martin Jenkins. Pye Corner Audio’s cinematic electronica shifts effortlessly between brooding ambience and menacing dance floor grooves. It evokes awe-inspiring vistas and moments of sublime spine-tingling wonder. This time around Jenkins draws inspiration from scientific and science-fictional notions about the nature of time and the idea that it may be entirely unreal.“
Lead single “Decision Point” sets us up for the musical journey we’re about to take. Hovering synth notes waver in the air as a slinky rhythm emerges from the fog. Touches of subtle dance music with industrial clang keep the song moving as Jenkins gives us a haunted melody above the proceedings. Part early 80s theme music, 70s library music, and 100% Pye Corner Audio. You bought the ticket, so time to take the ride.
Click the button above and get a taste of ‘The Endless Echo’ with “Decision Point”. And also be sure to check out the video below as well. It’s like ‘The Twilight Zone’ meets HG Wells with a pinch of cosmic horror thrown in for good measure. And make sure to preorder ‘The Endless Echo’ now over at Ghost Box. Out 4/5 everywhere.
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