Conceived as an organic expression of wide open spaces inspired by coastal visits, “Visiting Tides” is the debut album from British musician Simon Bainton. Previously, Simon contributed “Sun Settlings” to our postcard series, although he is perhaps better known as one half of the duo Pausal – who have released on the likes of Barge Recordings, Students Of Decay and Highpoint Lowlife. His work with Pausal has seen him share the stage with artists such as Grouper, Mountains, Stars of the Lid, Chihei Hatakeyama and Greg Haines.

The album draws from an entirely acoustic palette of instruments including piano, acoustic guitar, voice, harmonica, flute, wind chimes and also features the unmistakable cello of Danny Norbury. These are bound together by an array of sampled vinyl records, field recordings and answer phone messages, all processed and arranged on laptop.

The two sides of the resulting album can almost be seen as ‘night’ and ‘day’, with the first half setting a calming yet slightly sombre tone and the second adopting a warmer and more ecstatic feel. The seven pieces are all named after different coastal areas that have inspired Simon, each one blending seamlessly into the next to provide a continuous listening environment which you can truly sink into.

Released August 2013, a limited edition LP release of 150.

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