Voyaging through cinematic samba, 70s disco, deep funk boogies, danceable grooves and even tripping on 90s acid house, ‘Disco Volador’ is set to propel The Orielles spinning into a higher zero-gravity orbit. Written and recorded in just 12 months, it captures the warp-speed momentum of their post-‘Silver Dollar Moment’ debut album success; an unforgettable summer touring, playing festivals like Green Man and bluedot and deepening their bond whilst witnessing the sets of their heroes Stereolab, Mogwai, and Four Tet.
‘Disco Volador’’s library catalogue vibes stem from a band lapping up and widening their pool of musical discovery whether nodding to Italian film score maestros Sandro Brugnolini and Piero Umiliani, or the Middle Eastern tones of Khruangbin and Altin Gün. “All the influences we had when writing this record were present when we recorded it, so we completely understood what we wanted this album to feel like and could bring that to fruition,” tells drummer Sid. “This is the sound of where we are at, right now.”
Returning to Stockport’s Eve studios where the band cooked together, went swimming, took walks and relaxed in the soundwaves of an occasional gong bath, Henry, Sid and Esme called a family reunion under the watchful whisker-twitching of studio cat, Adam (“He was probably a producer in a past life,” they say). With keysman Alex now adding texture through his classically trained know-how, they re- joined engineer Joel and producer Marta Salogni (Liars, Björk, The Moonlandingz) - whose vast expertise of drones, delays and mad effects were so intrinsic to their ‘Disco Volador’ vision - sketched out by the band in Sharpie doodles on the studio wall.
Built from instrumentals around the concept of “boogie to space, space to boogie,” ‘Disco Volador’’s energy comes from the melodic fission of tension and release. Recurring motifs explore space, not only of earth’s celestial atmosphere but also what happens within the gaps and how sound manipulation has the power to carry, or displace, its listener. “We like throwing in wide curveballs by taking the music somewhere different then figuring our way back... like jumping off,” says Henry. “Jez from ACR taught us about pauses and that’s massive on this record; space can be the most beautiful part of a song.”
At times haunting and unsettling, ‘Disco Volador’’s film-like structure flows from fact to fiction. Its tales are culled from waking life as easily as they become a soundtrack for lucid dream sequences.