The Act: DEPARTMENT M

The Release: 'DEPARTMENT M'

The Format: COMPACT DISC AND DIGITAL MINI-ALBUM

The Release Date: DECEMBER 16TH 2013

The Label: fierce panda records (NONG 85CD)

The Tracklisting:
1. 'Visitor'
2. 'pHARMACY'
3. 'I'll Fax You An Apology'
4. 'J-Hop'
5. 'The Second Prize'
6. 'Miscellany'
7. 'Absentia'
8. 'SleepWalker'

The Truth: DEPARTMENT M come from Leeds in the North of Englandshire. Ostensibly a creative vehicle for one Owen Brinley, they have spent the past year cautiously, yet crunchingly, developing a fascinating, fizzing sound which combines the heroic synths of yesteryear with a cutting contemporary electro sensibility. Depeche Mode, Air, Talk Talk, Cabaret Voltaire and - of course - ELO are just some of the names referenced in their company, and fair play too - Owen Brinley is decidedly not a man afraid of a saxophone solo. Bolstered by a four person-strong live line-up this is an act which can straddle the divide between the shiny retro-obsessed Classic Pop magazine and the cool dark alleyways of modern East London.

They have previous, do Department M: in March they released the 'I'll Fax You An Apology' / 'Black Boutique' single on local label Hide & Seek. In June they released the 'The Second Prize' / 'Absentia' single through Too Pure. This handy 'Department M' mini-album brings together most of the songs on those first two releases, throws in future single 'Miscellany' - due out in January 2014 - adds a couple more toweringly sombre tunes and waits for the light to come pouring out of the sky. It is being released on the monumentally illogical date of December 16th because a) a similar version of the EP is being released on Rallye Records in Japan in November, b) because we could and c) because it's a timely way to end the first chapter in the Department M story.

So how did we get here? Legend already has it that Owen's career took a completely different turn when he put down his guitar and picked up a Roland Juno-60, the classic keyboard that defined the sound of the likes of '80s hair bears A Flock Of Seagulls, and all of a sudden his nascent electronic influences burst to the forefront of his writing. No less interestingly, his career as DJ and binge drinker in several Leeds nightclubs had him suffering from the onset of Hyperacusis, an acute over-sensitivity to certain frequency ranges. Something to keep his well-developed tinnitus company, but not something to keep him out of the studio.

These conditions over time created a tension which arguably informed the lyrical and musical elements which saw Owen mould the Department M sound alongside local long term collaborator James Kenosha. Unsurprisingly, phrases like "abrasive beauty" and "brutalist pop economy" tend to be bandied about Department M's music, for theirs is a world of overdriven hip-hop drum loops crashing against smooth swathes of analogue synthesiser, where the beefiest of rhythms collide with the sweetest of vocals. Come check that sweet beefiness out for yourselves here, here and there...

NOVEMBER 2ND LEEDS Belgrave Hall
NOVEMBER 5TH LONDON Shacklewell Arms (fierce panda v disorder night)
DECEMBER 5TH NEWCASTLE Head Of Steam
DECEMBER 7TH LEEDS Eiger Studios (Symposium Festival)

www.deptm.co.uk
https://soundcloud.com/departmentm www.facebook.com/departmentmband