A massive double helping of melodious darkness, cloaked in many musical colours..
Portsmouth based Post-Punk/Goth band Torpedoes release their fourth album ‘Heaven’s Light Our Guide’ on 5th July 2024. In this magnum opus, principal songwriter Ray (Razor) Fagan (Ex Red Letter Day) gives his take on the world we must all inhabit whether we like it or not, across 20 tracks. Lyrically questioning, this double album focuses on largely dark themes; from the destruction of the planet and corruption to bereavement and historic tragedies. Along with band mates Ben Prior (guitar, vocals), Martin Cook (drums) and Steve Burrell (bass), Razor has produced an absolute goldmine of soundscapes here.
‘Heaven’s Light Our Guide‘ sees the band take their Post-Punk/Goth signature sound forward with an emphasis on keyboards, whilst retaining the spiky guitar driven edge that has served them so well in the past. Think Killing Joke, The Damned, Muse, The Cardiacs with a side helping of The Cure and you get close, ultimately however, they sound like Torpedoes.
Recorded, produced and mixed at Portsmouth’s Studio One28, with J D Callender of Cranes at the desk, the record is indulgent, rich, layered with keyboards, and at the same time stained with angular post-punk, lyrically making observations that most can’t be arsed to see or deal with.
I can hear synth influences similar to both early Tubeway Army / Gary Numan and Depeche Mode on this album, which gives it considerably wider appeal than you’d expect. There are plenty of superb guitar, bass and drum moments throughout, genuinely something for everyone’s tastes.
Notable tracks include ‘Blue Sky (In The Rain)‘, with equally catchy riffs from both guitar and keys; the Numan-esque ‘Frontiers‘ whose cheerfulness belies its subject matter; ‘Your Democracy‘ with its heavier, meatier sound; ‘Notes from the Underground‘ with a primal urgency and modern Punk sound, and ‘Indigo‘, where the guitar slaps you upside the head and doesn’t let you go..
Lead single ‘Tomorrow’s Mine‘, with its twisted disco beat and haunting dystopian regrets for our inability to change the past to allow for a better future, sees each band member’s skills used to their utmost. A very strong first single with excellent production!
With ‘Heaven’s Light Our Guide‘ Torpedoes have created a poetic body of work that nods to their past, examines our collective future and most importantly makes the statement that we’ve fucked up our world and we have no-one to blame but ourselves..
It’s also a consummate, strident, meaningful and magnificent record!
Out on 5th July on Bin Liner Records, ‘Heaven’s Light Our Guide‘ will be available on double vinyl album / Double CD from HERE and via streaming formats.
Torpedoes are playing a few shows this summer – catch them on the following dates:
5th July – Spice of Life, Soho, London
20th July – HLOG album launch gig – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth (Support from Violent Heartbeat and The Cherries)
2nd August – The Railway Inn, Winchester with Feedher (Feeder Tribute)
25th October – Trinity Bar, Harrow, West London
- Somekindaheaven
- End of the World Party
- Blue Sky (In The Rain)
- Singing Myself to Sleep
- Made of Stone
- Tomorrow’s mine
- Frontiers
- Your Democracy
- An English Rose
- Heaven’s Light Our Guide
- In America
- Notes from the Underground
- Fear of Human Design
- Idiot
- Dystopia Utopia
- Heathen Priest
- Beat Me Alive
- Indigo
- Artificial Life
- So… Goodbye
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Usually found jumping around down the front at gigs, I also relish taking photos and videos, singing, speaking with fellow music fans, and asking musicians the questions nobody else does. Writing about my favourite bands and connecting with people who love music too keeps me more-or-less sane! I’ve worked for over 25 years at a video production company, mainly filming live music events, therefore I have an additional backstage perspective on the scene.
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