On Dead Waves

Stream Their Album Via Instagram

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS AT MARIO’S CAFÉ, LONDON

PREMIERE OF DEAD BALLOONS ON LENNY LETTER – bit.ly/27alL2w

LIVE SHOW BIRTHDAYS, DALSTON – 7 JUNE

DEBUT ALBUM OUT ON 20 MAY

Q Magazine -“A smouldering blend of Edgar Allan Poe imagery,

David Lynch and Chris Isaak’s guitar twang.” 

The Guardian – “Theirs is a misty, spectral sort of guitar ambience, a whispered, wistful duet from Chapman and Scattergood positing them as a new take on the Nancy & Lee – or Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – paradigm.”

Polly Scattergood and James Chapman (Maps) aka onDeadWaves will be streaming their debut album via Instagram, mirroring the music and images that are being shown in an exhibition of photographs at the legendary London café, Mario’s, in Kentish Town.

The Instagram stream (at https://www.instagram.com/ondeadwaves/) will feature a track every day until release date on 20 May 2016, before then you can listen to a new track, Dead Balloons, at Lenny Letter, Lena Dunham’s site, bit.ly/27alL2w 

The relationship between art and music is something the band have been keen to explore, explaining “The idea behind the exhibition is to entwine art and music, as when we wrote the album, imagery was a key part of our writing process.” 

The exhibition at Mario’s Café collates photographs related to the album and exhibits them alongside a track from the album. Customers can listen via headphones to each track, dipping in and out or moving around the café to hear the full tracklisting.

onDeadWaves explain the concept, “The idea for the exhibition began when we realised how people consume art and music differently. Art still feels like it should be treasured, whereas music (especially online) feels like it is consumed and forgotten at such a fast pace. We just wanted to slow everything down a bit and blur the lines between art, music and life, allowing people to listen to a track on headphones and look at the art while relaxing in the café – with no pressure to click on the next image or scroll down.”

The album release – 20 May 2016 – will be followed by a free show at Birthdays in Dalston, on Tuesday 7 June.

onDeadWaves is out on CD, digital and as a limited edition vinyl which comes with a signed art print.

The seeds of James Chapman and Polly Scattergood’s creative partnership were sown in 2011, at Mute’s legendary Short Circuit festival at London’s Roundhouse. The night saw different collaborations with Mute artists and Polly and James paired up to perform each other’s songs.

Though each had primarily worked alone before, there was something natural about the chemistry between them. “The gig was one of the most enjoyable I’ve done “ says Polly. “And as soon as we finished, we said it’d be cool to do something else.”

The pair reconvened at James’ studio in the countryside and, starved of social contact, found the landscape provided inspiration. Launch track Blackbird, Lauren Laverne’s MPFree pick on announcement, was inspired by a frequent, feathered visitor. Listen to Blackbird here, described by Q as “… a world of smeared mascara and trailer-park heartache.” and by The Times as a “Languorous Balearic ballad with sullenly gorgeous vocals” – https://youtu.be/ZS6fiOVGk80

Blue Inside followed and garnered airplay from the likes of Lauren Laverne and Janice Long, listen to the track here: https://youtu.be/WQROMzqtgbY

onDeadWaves have been sharing mixes of tracks, charting a few of their favourite things right now. Follow their mixtapes here: https://soundcloud.com/ondeadwaves

Watch the album trailer here: https://youtu.be/BYygVwULYQI
Listen to California, here: https://youtu.be/1jZqlJjXK4Y

Pre-order the album here:
Digital – http://smarturl.it/ODWAlbumDigital
CD – http://smarturl.it/ODWAlbumCD
Vinyl – http://smarturl.it/ODWAlbumVinyl

Mario’s Café, 6 Kelly Street, London NW1 8PH
Monday – Saturday – 7.30am-4pm – http://www.marioscafe.com/

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