Friends of Reigns (oh go on, enemies too),

Still dithering about handing over your hard earned shitters for the new Reigns LP?  Here’s a few words from some lovely, lovely hacks:

"By creating such outlandish narratives, the British duo manage to both resurrect the idea of the album as an all-encompassing event and subvert the usual marketing of music, the relentless focus on the personalities behind the sounds.  Plus, in addition to being extremely good at spinning a creepy yarn - MR James would surely be impressed - their music is quite excellent…. The effect of such deeply affecting music allied to conceptual and lyrical content that is almost absurdly dark, hinting at terrible events and states of appalling mental anguish, is beguiling and not a little bizarre.  At various times it's difficult to know whether to laugh out loud, break down at the unbearable poignancy of it all, or go and check all the rooms in the house armed with a carving knife."  (The Wire)

“A low-key blend of folk, neo-classical and prog noises (think John Cale’s productions for Nico with added beats and glitches) it acts as the perfect soundtrack to their spooky spoken-word lyrics.”  (Uncut)

“There’s much more to this record than wide-eyed pastiche, with the resolutely sinister vocals occupying a similarly bleak landscape to Gravenhurst and the splashes of guitar evoking the best of Texan post-rock, but many of the sea-sick electronic textures could well have come straight from “Music Has The Right To Children”.  Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and for those still mired in mid-winter depression, this should provide a fitting soundtrack.” (8/10) (Rock Sound  - look out for the feature in the new issue too).

“Is that a candle being snuffed out?  The scribbling nib of a lunatic poet?  A piece of masking tape being ripped from a mouth?  Quite possibly not.  This is music that rewards the imaginative, the illogical and the ever-so-slightly insane.”  (Time Out)

“’…Causeway’ is a bit like watching that part in ‘Poltergeist’ where the kid opens his eyes and the clown has left the seat.  There’s that imminent sense of dread, knowing that it’s going to burst out at any moment.  Except with ‘…Causeway’ there’s no burst, just a well crafted sense of almost pleasant uneasiness.”   (Terrorizer)

'The House On The Causeway' is electronic musicians Reigns' third studio LP, and is the musical equivalent of a snowstorm in northern Russia.  At times violent and at others frigidly cold and still, 'Causeway' is, ultimately, a beautiful scope of experimental electronic-folk seen through a broken kaleidoscope of monotone colour” (CMU Daily)

From the epic melancholia of ‘Bad Slate’ to the spooky brilliance of ’Mirrors At Night’ and ’Vaulted’, Reigns are befuddling brilliant; the only real criticism with ‘The House On The Causeway’ is that it arrived too late for Halloween.   Singing like they have collectively trapped their balls in a car door, these brothers Grimm fashion a compellingly aeriform racket that is far more heartfelt and considered than the majority of today’s numbing indie flotsam. Ghostly ambience, distorted vocals and eerie electronics segue beautifully into instrumental breaks of folky melodica and chilling stabs of piano, the whole package unfurling with an ethereal grandeur that charms and unsettles in equal measure.  (Canned Applause)

It's spooky, it's challenging and it's as close to an out of body experience as you'll get this side of Most Haunted. It's also one of the most original albums you'll hear all year.
(The Devil Has The Best Tuna)....

Evocative, thoughtful, and serious, The House On The Causeway is a fantastic new story from Reigns that shows a further maturation in their sound. Add to that the morose mood of the subject matter that touches me in all the right spots, and I have a nigh-on perfect album in my hands.  (Autothrall)

And the NME hate it – so we’ve got to be doing something right.  Right?

Record’s out on Monday in ..Europe.. (next week for you chaps over the pond) when we’ll be playing at the Windmill in Brixton.

Swing low non-operatives.  See you there!

Reigns.

Between Black Ven and Golden Cap, a slim, man-made promontory of granite cobbles extends unnecessarily a half-mile out into the English Channel.  Nothing of note lies at its end nor at any point along its length.  This apparent futility has ensured that the causeway has, over the years, been excluded from all but the most painstaking of cartography.  Even to the naked eye it seems to elude detection for the almost perpetual gathering of fog that seems to hover over its entire reach, and its brief moments out from under this oppressive vapour are instantly curtailed by the ravening attentions of the tides.  Only the briefest window of opportunity arises to explore this altogether pointless finger of slimed and stinking rock.

            It was during one of these rare moments that Reigns Operatives A & B came to record a perplexing audio phenomenon.  It is said that the fog that so vigorously clings to the causeway has an inexplicable irregularity: that when it reaches a certain density, purportedly when light can no longer penetrate it, it emits a high pitched ringing similar to the onset of tinnitus.  Apparently, it is this ringing that generates in the listener a temporary but profound befuddlement of the senses that has caused many an excursionist to wade, disorientated, into the sea.

            Unfortunately, despite an abundance of fog, the Operatives heard nothing but the slow lapping of the glutinous, clotting water.  Furthermore, due to the fog’s impenetrability and their vehicle’s inability to negotiate the cobbles, the Operatives tarried too long and were roughly ushered by the tide to the causeway’s furthest point. 

Stranded upon a raised and wooded tumulus they found themselves face to face with a most unexpected sight: a house; a house that had most assuredly not been visible from land.  The house was unlocked and uninhabited, but in no way abandoned for its chambers were in a state of high expectancy, as if visitors had been, for a prolonged and industrious period, eagerly awaited.  The Operatives, for want of anything better to do, entered the house and, for reasons that still seem to elude them, moved from room to room, taking photographs and recording the strange resonations that seemed to emanate from the walls.

            They left the house almost two days later in a state of high distress and with the recordings you now have before you. 

It was only as they made their way back to the mainland and the house was out of sight that they were at last aware of an insistent high pitched ringing…

People of SpaceBook,

Reigns will be releasing their third album, 'The House on the Causeway', in Spring 2009.  We expect it to peel yr plums, blow yr hams and goose you in the pantry, etc.  It'll be out on the 9th March for you European types and the 17th for the rest of you.  The good people at Monotreme Records (home to 65 Days of Static, Stinking Lizaveta and a dozen other sterling acts) will be releasing it this time.  They rule the school.

We'll be touring in March so if you want Reigns to stink up yr joint the contacts are here:

Booking for France:  pierre.temple{at}laroutedurock{dot}com

Booking for rest of the Europe: tours{at}monotremerecords{dot}com

We will be smokin'.  Honest.  Similarly, for you press and radio johns, here's the deal:

UK press: Ken Lower: ken{at}hermana{dot}co{dot}uk

UK radio: luke{at}rocketpr{dot}co{dot}uk;  emma{at}rocketpr{dot}co{dot}uk

US press: dave{at}fanaticpromotion{dot}com; radio: caleb{at}fanaticpromotion{dot}com

Germany press/radio: eike{at}starkult{dot}de;  dennis{at}starkult{dot}de

France and Spain press/radio: press{at}fiverosespress{dot}net

Italy press/radio: giuseppe@ghostrecords.it, rossana@goodfellas.it

Belgium press/radio: geert.mets{at}skynet{dot}be

Netherlands press/radio: aldo{at}konkurrent{dot}nl

We've got a new track up and there'll be more to follow.

Now wash yr damn hands.

Operatives A & B. 

PS - The Stone Blog thing will be moving to www.reigns.net with a new installment due some time soon - Operatives S-W are still decoding.