A cinematic experience is in store for music fans when the sights and sounds of an indie electronic/folk duo come to Darlington this weekend.
Experiment 637, a side project for indie rock favourites Embrace keyboardist Mickey Dale, will be at The Forum music centre in Darlington this Friday (October 18).
The band's origins can be traced back to Embrace's 25th anniversary tour when Mickey and fellow musician Ronan Peaker, who was selling the band's merchandise during that tour, agreed to get together.
"We started out with a blank page," said Mickey. "We agreed to play some instruments and see what happened. We kept chipping away at it whenever we got some time and got enough songs together for a good debut album."
However, Covid put a "massive spanner in the works", until eventually the album, 'Sleepwater' was released to critical acclaim in September 2022.
The result is an electronic-based sound, which is performed on stage by the two multi-instrumentalists.
But another dimension has been added with the involvement of filmmaker and animator Alexander Kershaw, who has created short visuals for each of the nine tracks.
His vision for one of the songs, titled 'Kick Me In Your Sleep' about a relationship which has turned sour, involved a couple in a small single bed, which gradually gets wider and wider.
The musicians had to "call in a few favours" to get the bed constructed and turn Alex's vision into a reality and the result is "just beautiful," said Mickey.
"When we're on stage, Ronan and I just blend into the background really," he added. "It's a lot about what's projected on the screen and it's more akin to going to the cinema."
Mickey is presently spending most of his time in his studio in Bradford with the rest of Embrace, formed in West Yorkshire in 1990, as the band starts the process of putting together the songs that will make up their next album, expected to be released in 2025.
Before then, Embrace are preparing to embark on a tour marking the 20th anniversary of their biggest-selling album to date, Out Of Nothing.
The double-platinum-selling record spawned a number of hit singles, including 'Gravity' and 'Ashes', and is held in high regard by Mickey.
"Every song stands on its own two feet," he said. "It's a collection of really strong material I think."
The band's fourth studio album, it also marked a turning point for Embrace who had recently been dropped by Virgin Records, but were then taken on by the Independiente label who gave them the space to make the record.
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"The beautiful thing about that was we went from being dropped and having hardly any money to being signed by a label that believes in us. It felt fantastic. We dug deep and just got on with it really - and came up with the goods. It was a very very happy time".
- The Out of Northing tour includes a date at The Boiler Shop in Newcastle on Thursday, November 14, for which there are only a limited number of tickets left. For more details, visit boilershop.net/events/embrace-24
- Experiment 637 are appearing at The Forum, on Borough Road, Darlington, on Friday, October 18, from 7pm. Tickets are £9, and for more details visit theforumonline.co.uk/
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