The majority of us have had festival plans spoiled over the past two years, but famously among even the plethora of cancelled parties is the sad fate of the celebrated festival Houghton, which, on top of COVID, also saw an unexpected cancellation after 2019 edition of the festival was called off due to a storm of Godly proportions.
With many festival goers already on-route to the festival when the news was announced, many would-be party people scrambled to make up for lost time and get some fun in while the rain lashed down. ARA-U and Radioactive Man turned disappointment into the seeds of something new, and leapt into the studio to record four live cut jams that make up ‘The Houghton Blues‘ EP for ARA-U’s NO STATIC / AUTOMATIC label.
Despite the impromptu recording session, each track on the record is far from rushed or undeveloped. ‘What Happened To The Stash‘, our personal favourite, reaches deep into untapped energy reserves and coming up strong with a 7-minute acid steamroller, evoking images high-speed car pursuit scenes as equally as it does sweaty raves in forest dancefloors.
The track gets a retro-futuristic video by Dagga, with slices of early computer graphics, video games and old sci-fi movies rendered in industrial slime green with shocks of bio-hazard yellow, perfectly harmonising with the Matrix-esque nature of the track itself. Playful, with tongue-in-cheek android-induced anxiety across the track and the video alike, it’s a perfect match for a track that will — hopefully — be turning festival ‘floors into mush this summer.
‘The Houghton Blues’ EP is scheduled for release 15 April via NO STATIC / AUTOMATIC. Order a copy from Bandcamp.
Video Credits: Dagga
