Tag: Pete Lambrou

VLMV – For Empire – Live At Tortington Church

Picture by Paris Grace

On one cold, wet and windy afternoon in early November VLMV, aka Pete Lambrou, brought VLMV’s live set up to a Twelfth Century Church on England’s South Coast.

The resulting video is a beautiful one-take-completely-live recording of usual set opener ‘For Empire’, taken from the latest album Sing With Abandon. For Empire’s title and general demeanour evoke an apprehensive anti nostalgia for the old world, and the lyrics are plainly critical, but throughout weaves a feeling of yearning: ‘I was hoping someone could turn this boat around’.

Pete Lambrou on the setting:

“This had to be recorded and filmed in an old Church; being one of the absolute pillars of old empire. The older the better. Not all the songs from the album were written in the midst of lockdown. A couple were performed live on the last tour before the pandemic hit, including For Empire. But their roots are in the aftermath of Brexit, and this feeling of abandonment I’d felt throughout, and then the realisation that your neighbours aren’t who you thought they were.”

The Churches Conservation Trust:

“Tortington, the homestead of Torhta’s people, is recorded in Domesday Book (1086). The entrance to this twelfth-century flint church looks like something out of a mediaeval fantasy – three rows of Norman carvings arch over a thick wooden door set with ornamental hinge straps. Inside, creatures unlike anything found in nature peer down from the chancel arch. They are called ‘beakheads’ – boggle-eyed monsters with beaks, tongues and squid-like  tentacles that frown and glare at visitors below. Once they would have been painted in bright colours to entertain – or terrify – worshippers.”

VLMV (pronounced and formerly known as ALMA) is a self-proclaimed ambient-ish post-something singer-songwriter / producer from London. Part of the illustrious Erased Tapes family, VLMV have released 2 albums on Fierce Panda Records, alongside 2022’s Sing With Abandon out on Pete’s own label, Nice Weather for Airstrikes. Live, VLMV deploy loop stations, multiple delay pedals, piano and strings to create a slow-moving, high-flying soundscape of luscious gravitas.

“Building atmospheric and quietly epic soundscapes that creep up on you unannounced….like a beam of light through a dark, cold night.” – Lauren Laverne BBC6 Music

“As worthy of your love and admiration as anything Sigur Rós or Explosions In The Sky have released” Team Rock

Featured image by Jess Robinson

Review – VLMV – Sing With Abandon

“Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words.” – Robert G. Ingersoll

Music is infinite, there are notes to come that have not been heard by any human ear yet, music is the one constant that everyone can cling on to and, with all that has happened in the world recently, music is more prominent in our lives than ever before.

VLMV have returned with their third album ‘Sing With Abandon’. The follow up to the acclaimed ‘Stranded, Not Lost’, this new album is the result of years of collaboration, experimentation and crafting the music and sounds that make up VLMV.

Joined live by long time collaborator and fellow Code In The Clouder Ciaran Morahan, VLMV deploy loop stations, multiple delay pedals, piano and strings to create a slow-moving, high-flying soundscape of luscious gravitas. 

An ambitious yet concise album, ‘Sing With Abandon’ was born as songwriter and producer Pete Lambrou explored navigating life in the pandemic, multiple lockdowns and a country deciding to break up with its loved ones. Lyrically focused on feelings of isolation and separation, from our shared collective human experience to the deeply personal and everything in between, ‘Sing With Abandon’ touches on the isolation found within the communal experience of a country locked down and in crisis. 

Dreamlike in its beauty and whimsical and wistful in its delivery, this new record is utterly captivating throughout. There are moments of stunning, ethereal brilliance like the plaintive wonder of opening track There Are Mountains Underneath Us, a strikingly elegant piece of music that left me welling up with emotion and the gloriously refined The Navigator with its plaintive piano and sultry, hushed vocals from Anja Madhvani.

Honestly, there is wonder and amazement in every note and every word throughout the criminally short thirty-six minutes running time, the instrumental tracks, If I Could See Your Life Reverse with its edgier, slightly psychedelic feel and Steady Thyself (the first single released from the album) exquisitely sublime in its execution, the piano and strings so achingly beautiful, are moments of pure wonder and calm.

There’s no way to pick any highlights from this album as it flows best if you listen to it in one complete sitting. For Empire bleeds a melancholy emotion throughout, the haunting vocals a particular highlight, the imaginatively titled We Were Landed, We Were Landing Gently We Landed is another graceful instrumental, title track Sing With Abandon has a darker aura to it and Solus Ipse the feel of a babbling brook as its gentle notes and subtle vocal meander their way across your mind.

DearFearHere is impish and almost celestial in the way the ghostly, almost intangible vocals brush your mind while the rarefied, supernal musical notes dance along in unison. The album closes with the luxurious refinement of Our Corners (Reprise), a track that leads you by the hand to a place of calm solitude and reflection.

There are times when you hear a piece of music that leaves you open mouthed in appreciation and, when I first heard ‘Sing With Abandon’ I was utterly stunned. Albums like this are more than mere music, they pervade your very soul, take over your life and almost bring you to tears at their beauty. VLMV have created something so good that it almost becomes a state of mind and I thank Pete Lambrou from the bottom of my heart for doing so.

Released 19th August, 2022

Pre-order from bandcamp here:

Sing With Abandon | VLMV (bandcamp.com)

VLMV SHARE ‘THERE ARE MOUNTAINS (UNDERNEATH US)’ FROM UPCOMING ALBUM 

 

NEW SINGLE ACCOMPANIED BY MOVING FILM FROM CINEMATOGRAPHER GABRIEL STANGER 

 

South ​​London ambient post-rock project VLMV have shared new single ‘There Are Mountains (Underneath Us)’  via Nice Weather For Airstrikes. A moving composition with an accompanying video from acclaimed cinematographer Gabriel Stanger, the song follows previous releases Steady, Thyself, For Empire and The Navigator in anticipation of their album release ‘Sing With Abandon’ next month. Featuring guest vocals from Anja Madhvani (Her Name is Calla) and Claire Knox (A-Sun Amissa), ‘There Are Mountains…’ is a creeping and beautiful piece of music, building carefully and slowly to a triumphant but melancholy crescendo.

London based cinematographer Gabriel Stanger has created an enigmatic video. A beautiful monochrome treatise,  tells the story of mother and son coming together – open for interpretation of their family bond and connection. The serenity in the video fits perfectly with the track, an emotive and poignant video to accompany closure in both music and visual. 

An ambitious yet concise album, ‘Sing With Abandon’ was born as songwriter and producer Pete Lambrou explored navigating life in the pandemic, multiple lockdowns and a country deciding to break up with its loved ones. Lyrically focused on feelings of isolation and separation, from our shared collective human experience to the deeply personal and everything in between, ‘Sing With Abandon’ touches on the isolation found within the communal experience of a country locked down and in crisis. 

Formed in early 2015 by songwriter & producer Pete Lambrou (Codes In The Clouds, Monsters Build Mean Robots), VLMV released their debut mini album via Fierce Panda Records in August 2015, along with ‘Remixes & Reworkings’, a digital overhaul of their esteemed debut shortly after. Described as “heartachingly beautiful” by Prog Magazine, VLMV shared the follow up, ‘Stranded, Not Lost, in 2018, earning a nomination at the Prog Awards alongside critical acclaim.  

Hailing from London, VLMV have received widespread praise for their immersive live shows, gaining them slots across the UK and Europe including ArcTanGent, Dunk! Festival, Portals Festival, Post In Paris and many more.

VLMV will play The Lexington, London for their one and only UK headline show this year Friday 26th August. 

‘Sing With Abandon’ will be released August 19th via Nice Weather For Airstrikes and can be pre-ordered now 

‘There Are Mountains (Underneath Us)’ is out now

Pete Lambrou on ‘ There Are Mountains (Underneath Us)’:

“The album has been a long process for us after delays with session musicians and studio restrictions. We ended up going back and forth; writing and rewriting; taking a step back and coming at it from different angles so it feels comforting to know it’ll be out in the world so soon! The drum beat / synth loop was actually created by happy accident on my Korg ArpOdyssey. After manipulating lots of incoming audio, it spat out a chopped up beat with the tempo of 61.2567bpm. And that was that…”

VLMV RELEASE NEW SINGLE ‘THE NAVIGATOR’ FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM ‘SING WITH ABANDON’

 FEATURING GUEST VOCALS FROM HER NAME IS CALLA’S ANJA MADHVANI 

London ambient post-rock project VLMV have shared new single ‘The Navigator’ via Nice Weather For Airstrikes. His third musical offering of 2022, VLMV mastermind Pete Lambrou has crafted a timeless piece that showcases honesty and self-reflection via lush harmony arrangements and delicate piano lines. The single comes as a follow up to Steady, Thyself and For Empire in anticipation of their summer album release – Sing With Abandon. 

Listen now: VLMV – The Navigator (Revere Cut) (orcd.co)

 ‘The Navigator’ is organic and slow burning with a crushing, instant sense of nostalgia and vulnerability with soaring guest vocals from Anja Madhvani (Her Name Is Calla). The piano was recorded on Adele’s old touring grand piano at Old Chapel Studios in Chichester whilst bassoon and cello loops were created by recording legato notes and processed through a 4-track, reversed and tape-looped to create endless lo-fi drones. 

 An ambitious yet concise album, ‘Sing With Abandon’ was born as songwriter and producer Pete Lambrou explored navigating life in the pandemic, multiple lockdowns and a country deciding to break up with its loved ones. Lyrically focused on feelings of isolation and separation, from our shared collective human experience to the deeply personal and everything in between, ‘Sing With Abandon’ touches on the isolation found within the communal experience of a country locked down and in crisis. 

Formed in early 2015 by songwriter & producer Pete Lambrou (Codes In The Clouds, Monsters Build Mean Robots), VLMV released their debut mini album via Fierce Panda Records in August 2015, along with ‘Remixes & Reworkings’, a digital overhaul of their esteemed debut shortly after. Described as “heartachingly beautiful” by Prog Magazine,, VLMV shared the follow up,  ‘Stranded, Not Lost, in 2018, earning a nomination at the Prog Awards alongside critical acclaim.  

Hailing from London, VLMV have received widespread praise for their immersive live shows, gaining them slots across the UK and Europe including ArcTanGent, Dunk! Festival, Portals Festival, Post In Paris and many more. 

 ‘Sing With Abandon’ will be release on August 19th via Nice Weather For Airstrikes and can be pre-ordered now 

‘The Navigator’ is available now

 Pete Lambrou on ‘Sing With Abandon’:

“This album is founded on feelings of isolation and separation that lockdown had on each of us – both on a personal and on a human race level. We’d become a nation – a world-divided. And although I hadn’t tried to represent that in album form, these things tend to slip out. I could never sit down and write a song about the state-of-the-world, but I believe that if you don’t try and force it, whatever is there deep down, will come to the surface in some way.”

 

VLMV SHARE WITH NEW SINGLE ‘FOR EMPIRE (REVERE CUT)’

 AMBIENT POST-ROCK PROJECT TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM ‘SING WITH ABANDON’ THIS SUMMER  

VLMV have shared new single ‘For Empire (Revere Cut)’, the first from their forthcoming album ‘Sing With Abandon’. Scheduled for release in August, ‘Sing With Abandon’ is the follow up to 2018’s acclaimed full-length ‘Stranded, Not Lost’ and the result of years of collaboration, experimentation and crafting the music and sounds of VLMV.
The follow up to  instrumental teaser ‘Steady Thyself’, ‘For Empire (Revere Cut)’ is the first single to emerge from the upcoming record. A slow-burning commentary on a post-brexit world and rooted in the harsh feeling of isolation that only grew as the world began locking down in 2020, ‘For Empire’ finds VLMV’s Pete Lambrou off-setting the songs darker subject matter with the beautiful, awe-inspiring compositions he has become known for. Beginning with Pete performing alone, the songs blossoms with gripping, layered vocals and soaring strings as Lambrou makes the songs great declaration-  “I was building something to turn this boat around’. 

 An ambitious yet concise album, ‘Sing With Abandon’ was born as songwriter and producer Pete Lambrou explored navigating life in the pandemic, multiple lockdowns and a country deciding to break up with its loved ones. Lyrically focused on feelings of isolation and separation, from our shared collective human experience to the deeply personal and everything in between, ‘Sing With Abandon’ touches on the isolation found within the communal experience of a country locked down and in crisis. 

Formed in early 2015 by songwriter & producer Pete Lambrou (Codes In The Clouds, Monsters Build Mean Robots), VLMV released their debut mini album via Fierce Panda Records in August 2015, along with ‘Remixes & Reworkings’, a digital overhaul of their esteemed debut shortly after.  Described as “a beam of light through a dark, cold night” by Lauren Laverne, VLMV shared the follow up,  ‘Stranded, Not Lost, in 2018, earning a nomination at the Prog Awards alongside critical acclaim.  Joined live by long-time collaborator and fellow Code In The Clouder Ciaran Morahan, VLMV deploy loop stations, multiple delay pedals, piano and strings to create a slow-moving, high-flying soundscape of luscious gravitas. Hailing from London, the duo have received widespread praise for both their records and their incredible live show thanks to heavy touring in the UK and Europe. VLMV have taken to the stage at ArcTanGent, Dunk! Festival, Portals Festival, Post In Paris and many more. 

 ‘Sing With Abandon’ will be release on August 19th via Nice Weather For Airstrikes and can be pre-ordered now
‘For Empire’ is available now

 Pete Lambrou on ‘For Empire (Revere Cut)’:“The intro drones were single legato cello notes recorded and then processed through my old Portastudio 4-track, reversed, delayed and put back together! Not all the songs from the album were written in the midst of lockdown. A couple were performed live on the last tour before the pandemic hit, including For Empire. But their roots are in the aftermath of Brexit, and this feeling of abandonment I’d felt throughout, and then the realisation that your neighbours aren’t who you thought they were.”

Listen now:

https://vlmv.bandcamp.com/track/for-empire-2

 

VLMV RETURN WITH NEW TRACK ‘STEADY THYSELF’ – AMBIENT POST-ROCK PROJECT TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM ‘SING WITH ABANDON’ THIS SUMMER 

VLMV have returned with their first new music since 2018 with ‘Steady Thyself’ and announced their third album ‘Sing With Abandon’, scheduled for release in August. The follow up to the acclaimed ‘Stranded, Not Lost’, this new album is the result of years of collaboration, experimentation and crafting the music and sounds that make up VLMV.

 An ambitious yet concise album, ‘Sing With Abandon’ was born as songwriter and producer Pete Lambrou explored navigating life in the pandemic, multiple lockdowns and a country deciding to break up with its loved ones. Lyrically focused on feelings of isolation and separation, from our shared collective human experience to the deeply personal and everything in between, ‘Sing With Abandon’ touches on the isolation found within the communal experience of a country locked down and in crisis. 

To mark the announcement of this new album, VLMV have shared ‘Steady Thyself’ – The first look at what’s to come, ‘Steady Thyself’ is a soaring and captivating instrumental, centred on a delicate piano arrangement, a tantalising glimpse at the compelling sonic universe VLMV have created on their third outing. 

Formed in early 2015  by songwriter & producer Pete Lambrou (Codes In The Clouds, Monsters Build Mean Robots), VLMV released their debut mini album via Fierce Panda Records in August 2015, along with ‘Remixes & Reworkings’, a digital overhaul of their esteemed debut shortly after.  Described as “a beam of light through a dark, cold night” By Lauren Laverne, VLMV shared the follow up,  ‘Stranded, Not Lost, in 2018, earning a nomination at the Prog Awards alongside critical acclaim.  

Joined live by long time collaborator and fellow Code In The Clouder Ciaran Morahan, VLMV deploy loop stations, multiple delay pedals, piano and strings to create a slow-moving, high-flying soundscape of luscious gravitas. 

Hailing from London, the duo have received widespread praise for both their records and their incredible live show thanks to heavy touring in the UK and Europe. VLMV have taken to the stage at ArcTanGent, Dunk! Festival, Portals Festival, Post In Paris and many more. 

 ‘Sing With Abandon’ will be released on August 19th via Nice Weather For Airstrikes and can be pre-ordered now

‘Steady Thyself’ is available now

Pete Lambruo on ‘Sing With Abandon’:

“The album has been a long process for us after delays with session musicians and studio restrictions. We ended up going back and forth; writing and rewriting; taking a step back and coming at it from different angles. ‘Steady Thyself’ was actually written as a synth sequence in its first inception. It was very different to the final piano version after PLENTY of tweaks and rewrites. It’s not a quick overnight record, it’s taken time and I think that’s reflected in the album itself. It’s something to completely immerse yourself in.”

VLMV ANNOUNCE UK/EU HEADLINE TOUR – NEW ALBUM ‘STRANDED NOT LOST’ DUE FEBRUARY 2018 ON FIERCE PANDA

South London duo VLMV will release their debut album ‘Stranded, Not Lost’ on February 16th, the follow up to their 2016 mini-album which garnered the self-proclaimed “ambient-ish, post-something” outfit praise from the likes of Lauren Laverne, The Independent, Killing Moon, London in Stereo and more.

These previous releases have earned the band tours with post-rock stalwarts Nordic Giants and New Zealand trio Jakob as well as performances at festivals across Europe where their live show, a blend of the delicate, emotional vocals of Keaton Henson, the compositional beauty of Olafur Arnalds and a touch of the crashing and climactic soundscapes of Sigur Ros & Explosions In The Sky have wowed and hushed audiences all over the continent.

The band, up until recently, known as ALMA (until several cases of mistaken identity with the BBC Sound of 2018 nominee necessitated a branding rethink) have announced their new album ‘Stranded, Not Lost’ is to be released on Fierce Panda on the 16th February 2018. A collection of 10 new compositions from the band that perfectly recaptures the fragile, fragrant essence of their esteemed debut ‘ALMA’ album which hoovered up comparisons to fellow explorers Sigur Ros, Patrick Watson and Explosions in The Sky.

‘Stranded, Not Lost’ is a gorgeous and moving record replete with the kind of brooding, ambient soundscapes, soaring vocals and crashing intensity that have earned the band a small legion of dedicated fans and a fearsome live reputation.

The band, which was formed in 2015 by songwriter Pete Lambrou have been described as sounding like “the background music to an ambient explosion in space”, which is perhaps unsurprising when one considers that as mainstay of Codes in The Clouds and Monsters Build Mean Robots Lambrou’s gently cosmic post-rock provenance is impeccable.

Joined by fellow Code In The Cloudser Ciaran Morahan, VLMV deploy a loop station, multiple delay pedals, a piano and strings to create a slow-moving, high-flying soundscape of luscious gravitas.

When asked about the new album, VLMV’s Pete Lambrou said: “Stranded, Not Lost is the first album I’ve written as a whole album, and not just songs that are pieced together to form a sort of best of after a certain period. I built a retreat studio in the basement of my house and buried myself there for a while. I wanted to keep this spatial feel that our previous album had, but create something more intimate. Thematically it’s a very inward album, which I haven’t really done for a long time. I think you can really hear the isolation in there. It’s personal, lonely and regretful.”

The band have also announced a set of UK & EU Tour dates in support of the album:

  • 19/02 – LWL Museum – Munster
  • 20/01 – Le caf & Diskaire – Lille
  • 21/02 – Galerie vom Zufall und vom Glück – Hanover
  • 22/02 – Plama -Gdansk
  • 23/02 – It’s a Bar – Berlin
  • 24/02 – Mózg Club – Warsaw
  • 25/02 – Noch Besser Leben – Leipzig
  • 26/02 – NoD – Prague
  • 27/02 – Andel Music Bar – Plzeñ
  • 28/02 – Le Farmer – Lyon
  • 01/03 – Pole Sud – Saint-Vincent-de-Tryosse
  • 02/03 – BeGood – Barcelona
  • 03/03 – Convent Garden – San Sebastien
  • 04/03 – Mami Txula – Bayonne
  • 16/03 – Archspace – London (Album Launch Show)
  • 22/03 – Glad Cafe – Glasgow
  • 23/03 – The Fox & Newt – Leeds
  • 24/03 – Dubrek Studios – Derby
  • 25/03 – Prince Albert – Brighton