Music / new releases
Geoff Barrow releases single for War Child
Geoff Barrow‘s label Invada Records has put out a fundraising single in aid of War Child UK.
The track is a remix by Barrow and Ben Salisbury, working under their collaborative moniker Drokk, of the song Cruel Mother by Irish electronic doom-folk act ØXN which features members of Mercury Prize nominees Lankum.
“It’s a great charity that cares for children devastated by war across the world,” says Barrow, explaining why 100 per cent of profits will go to the “brilliant” War Child.
“We all know what’s going on at the moment, I don’t need to bang on to you about it. But do what you can.”
With his classic deadpan humour, of the bright green record he said, “people told me it’s the same colour as brats summers, or something like that… I have no idea what that means.”
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The remix is a powerful record featuring the distinctive, haunting vocals of Lankum’s Radie Peat that convey the horror imbued in the traditional Irish song originally intended as a cautionary tale for women bearing children outside marriage.
Drones denote dread, urgent synth overlays the track’s dark underbelly and, as it builds to a peak, heavy beats signal the drums of oppression to produce a nightmare-inducing sound encompassing fear, persecution and defiance.
Barrow’s collaborator Salisbury is an Ivor Novello-winning Emmy-nominated soundtrack composer with over 200 film and TV credits including David Attenborough’s Life of Mammals, Life in the Undergrowth and Life in Cold Blood.
The pair met a decade ago when they joined, the label says, “a football team for old men. After many disastrous games they decided they might be more productive working on a music project together.”
Barrow has long been an avid fan of film soundtracks, releasing a range of scores over the years on Invada before announcing he would be turn his focus towards film production.
His debut feature-length piece, Game, produced by the imprint’s spin-off Invada Films is a thriller set against 90s rave culture that stars Sleaford Mods‘ Jason Williamson.
It was shot in and around Bristol, wrapped in March and is currently in post-production, with release date still to be announced. Barrow has said he already has two further films in development.
Listen to the Cruel Mother remix at invada.bandcamp.com/track/cruel-mother-drokk-remix and purchase a copy at invada.co.uk/products/oxn-limited-edition-vinyl
Main image: ØXN
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