Black Holes In The Sand

This year Gravenhurst celebrates a decade of work on Warp Records with the reissue of two classic albums, Flashlight Seasons and Black Holes in the Sand, and an additional new album: Offerings: Los Songs 2000-2004, a compilation of unreleased material from that period. 2004's Flashlight Seasons quickly earned Gravenhurst a devoted fan base, consistently strong support from the music press, and cemented Nick Talbot's reputation as a unique talent, and one of the most original British singer/songwriter and producers of his generation. Black Holes in the Sand, a noisier and more overtly lo-fi record of dark pastoral psychedelia firmly established an enduring Gravenhurst aesthetic: enigmatic lyrics, ghostly and virtuoso finger-picked guitars against a backdrop of cinematic, shape-shifting, semi conscious sonic textures; subliminal transmissions from the surrounding landscape. These two records established Gravenhurst as a place; a place of revenants. Plotting a journey from the unquiet graves of the unjustly accused, through the dark temptations of the city to the ancient rituals of the forest, Gravenhurst is a musical treasure map of sigils and coded clues, where the very earth itself has a message to convey. Offerings: Lost Songs 2000-2004 is a collection of previously unheard recordings quickly deemed worthy of an exclusive release. Alongside eight previously unheard songs are two early demos that differ from album versions in intriguing ways and the result is a carefully selected and coherent collection. The three albums will be pressed on vinyl accompanied with digital download codes, essays by Nick reflecting on this early material after a decade of progress, and a limited run of hand-made and signed lino cut prints which will be made available to the first 100 customers who buy all three albums on vinyl through Bleep at a discount rate. A triple CD release will comprise all three albums.