Quietly in Production

It's well over three years since the release of Dayglo Fishermen's last studio album, 'Midnight Souls Still Remain'. But there still has not been much official news about the new album that's currently in production.

The first, and barely noticeable, confirmation that a new album is in the works appeared on the band's official website early in 2017. Look at the first entry on the history page for 2017. It's probably the most low-key announcement of the commencement of a new album that the band has ever made.

A year later on this blog a little bit more information on the new album was revealed in the article 'Instruments of Mass Destruction', indicating that it will be largely instrumental. It is mentioned as almost an after thought: a casual comment to finish off what is a remarkably insightful read. That brief comment will certainly have set the minds of fans racing.

Unfortunately no more details than that are available, and it's unlikely that anything else will be officially revealed until very close to the album's release. But, for well over a year now, there have been numerous signs that things are progressing steadily. A sustained increase in activity has been noticed at the band's main production facility, Cozmic Studios, and also at their South London production suite, Mammoth Studios.

Such activity does not provide any clue as to what the new album will sound like, but the more observant among you may well have noticed other recent changes that could offer up some idea as to the sound of the new album. For example, it did not go unnoticed that the band debuted a new synthesiser at their 2016 Limelight Theatre concert - the Roland FA-06.

A major clue as to how the new Dayglo Fishermen album might sound was spotted at the band's most recent Limelight Theatre concert in 2016. That clue is the band's new synthesiser, the Roland FA-06, which was debuted without warning. It can be seen here being played by Peter Fothergill.

The rich sampled and synthesised tones of the keyboard can be heard on the recording of that concert, titled 'Midnight Souls Come (a)Live', and on the numerous concert DVD exerts on the band's YouTube channel. Listening and watching those gives tantalising hints as to the aural textures that can be expected on the new album.

More unconfirmed information seems to have been leaked directly from Dayglo Fishermen's production facilities. It's been said that there is a new guitar and new effects equipment at Cozmic Studios. And there's even another new synthesiser at that studio: a Korg Krome workstation.

Cozmic Studio's new Korg Krome Workstation, seen here in an exclusive photo taken in the facility's digital composition suite. 

Finally, it's no secret that Cozmic Studios was recently converted into a state-of-the-art 32-track recording studio, which will certainly influence the sound of the new album, and add new depth to the band's compositions. Recording and mix-down will now remain entirely in the digital domain, which will result in a clarity of sound never before heard - an intoxicating prospect.

Daylo Fishermen's new 32-track digital recording suite

All of the above shows that the band are investing heavily in keeping their sound current and relevant, and are maximising their ability to realise their creativity.

Of course, trying to imagine how the new album will sound is an almost impossible task, even with the clues mentioned above. Dayglo Fishermen are never predictable. It's best to just wait for the album's release, however long and grueling that wait may be.