The Asteroid is coming …

The weird thing about looking into space is that you are always looking at the past, at light that left its origins years ago. The exceptions are things like satellites and meteors, fragments of asteroids that fall to earth in real time. These conundrums of past and present are at the heart of the latest project by cosmic rockers Asteroid Deluxe: a concept album about the rise and fall of the residential tower block as a post-war dream for the future. What was supposed to be a retro-modernist project came bang up to date, however, when tragedy intervened. Bass player Gaz Williams explains:

“We had this whole thing worked out, all about how the original promise of the tower block was so clean and futuristic and optimistic but the reality declined into misery. We had a cast of characters and an idea about an uprising in protest at all the flawed design. And then Grenfell Tower happened and it changed things completely.”

Asteroid Deluxe – Gaz Williams (left) and Banga (second from right)

The band decided to continue the project, however, feeling that what they had to say was even more relevant given what has been coming to light since those awful events. Now the finished album – The Lawn – is ready to be launched at The Cube. Given the gritty urban subject matter, why such a green and pleasant title? Enlightenment comes from Banga, Asteroid Deluxe keyboard player:

“It was the name of the first ever UK tower block, built in 1951, in Harlow New Town. It’s still standing. The thing is it was done right, designed to be desirable to live in and built to high standards. After that things went wrong and terrible things were built for people to live in but The Lawn is the hero, really.”

If you’ve seen the band – best known for their live film soundtracks to odd-ball classics The Holy Mountain and The Fantastic Planet – you’ll know their sound is a defiantly retro continuation of 60s and 70s space rock. References to Hawkwind, Gong and early Pink Floyd abound in rolling instrumentals and primordial electronica, while vocals are sparse but tellingly atmospheric. Like that time-travelling starlight, the music arrives authentically from 60s modernism with the almost seamless flow of the tracks a proper nod to the great concept albums of the past.

That smoothness of flow is intentional and started in the studio, as Gaz recalls:

“We recorded it all live in the room and side one is one long performance with hardly any overdubs. We wanted a more cohesive sound by choice but of course it means we can’t re-edit it so we had to be committed to whatever happened. I think the others also liked the fact that, as producer, I couldn’t muck about with it too much, either.”

The Lawn – launched on November 3 at The Cube

It also gives the album a cinematic continuity, reflecting the band’s soundtrack experience, and they are excited to have customised visuals from David Hopkinson ready for The Cube gig. David has immersed himself in the project, finding a dazzling array of footage and images relating to tower blocks and Banga is delighted with the results:

“We’ve got what we wanted – he’s done a real thorough job and it’s amazing.”

That’s a bit of a reversal for a band known for soundtracking other people’s movies and she finds it even more welcome:

“If anything we were a little bit tired of playing second fiddle to the films – we loved the visual aspect but the film always got the attention. This way the music sets the scene and the visuals follow from that.”

Given the strength of the music and the band’s live reputation there’s no real fear of it being eclipsed, however, and cosmic rock fans can anticipate a fine flashback to the future.

Asteroid Deluxe launch The Lawn, with visuals by David Hopkinson at The Cube on Friday November 3.