What's Actually Happening?

Hello Everybody.

It hasn’t stopped raining in Biggleswade for two weeks, I reckon.

I’m expecting to see Jules “wild swimming” in the puddles on the front drive, because that woman will get in any water anywhere, no matter the temperature. She’s Jacobs cream crackers, but God, how I love her.

In other and possibly more relevant news, the new year is moving ahead at pace. We have news of three brilliant things incoming over the next few weeks.

Keith Seatman is back with his lysergic barrage of head-messing. This new LP “Counting to Ten and Back Again” feels like the third part of a trilogy, following the wonderful “Time To Dream, But Never Seen” and “Sad Old Tatty Bunting”, We didn’t set out to do a trilogy, but here we are. Keith continues to lift the pavement slabs to unearth what it is to be British. I think we’re on pretty cool ground if this is our soundtrack. You hear it, but you also feel it. Stirs the blood in the best possible way. Welcome one, welcome all. Pass the mushrooms, pls.

Counting To Ten And Back Again” is a bit more free ranging than the previous two LPs, but all the better for it. Keith is a unique and indefinable presence. It’s all kind of banging, but like you put the music through one of those liquid reels that Strictly Kev documented in his brilliant book:

https://www.djfood.org/

You think you have a handle on it, but then you don’t. Endlessly inventive and beautifully weird, this is Seatman at his blistering best. There is a distinct possibility that this may become a quadriology, but only Seatman knows.

What else?

After Keith, we see The Mistys. Andrew and Beth return with a smoking set of alt-pop. Beth’s voice remains as hypnotic as ever and Andrew’s arrangements are just pumping and jumping all over the place. Restrained, but not. No-one else is doing this stuff at this elevated level. If I could choose a few adjectives, this record is crisp, concise, dense, but stripped-down, deeply emotional and will probably will make you tearful. It’s a beautiful journey. Andrew and Beth get that balance between melody and emotional cobwebs so perfectly formed and played out.

Situations | Useless Mouths is released 27/03/2026, but pre-orders will be up before then.

As Season One of Lunar Module approaches its end, we’ve got news of two further things.

There’s a beautiful Summery house album from Belfast’s own, Solar 76. Infectious and factor 50 sun-creamy, this should be your soundtrack for the Summer (if it ever stops raining).

Then seeing Season One out, we have Matthew Saunders doing his Twilight Sequence thing on LM010, “Stars of the Wayside”. Put your feet up. It’s a wonderful life.

Last thing I have to tell you about before James comes round and gives me a half nelson - The new James Adrian Brown “Forever Neon Lights” LP is almost sold out from here, but James has put together a bundle of everything he’s released on CiS and is offering it all up as a quality street prize to those who buy a copy of the LP in the morning. Nina and I will be on scrutiny duty to see who gets there first in das morgen and whoever gets the first LP order in after 09:00 UK, you’ll get a bunch of awesome synth work from the most charismatic man in pop. He’s here to tell you more:

Thanks to all of you who are following the Substack.

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Colin

Castles in Space