Hidden Shoal Recordings is excited to announce the release of new single ‘Manatoc Enters The City / The Long Fall’ by musical experimentalist and long-time Robert Pollard collaborator Todd Tobias, taken from his forthcoming debut solo album Medicine Show.
‘Manatoc Enters The City / The Long Fall’ is a multi-part mini-epic that offers a tantalising taste of Medicine Show’s shadowy steampunk dystopia. The track kicks in like a panic attack, a dizzying flurry of organ and toms alternating with lurching guitar. The chaos soon calms, but builds in intensity again as a massive detuned riff pummels your ears into submission. The final coda is an exercise in unwinding as the song’s tight, muscular coils begin to lose their tension. The single comes with a bonus ‘B side’ called ‘Crystal Palace People’ taken from the soon to released bonus EP Night Above Ground. A lilting and intimate electro-folk ballad, ‘Crystal Palace People’ is a glimmering, soft-focus comedown after the A side’s rush – only to become unhinged in its closing moments as the recording is chewed and slurred.
“A psychedelic boat ride that leads to a poorly lit and wicked place, where even the nursery rhymes of youth become foreboding…” – AllMusic on Circus Devils’ Ringworm Interiors
‘Manatoc Enters The City / The Long Fall’ is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store, packaged with bonus track ‘Crystal Palace People’. Medicine Show is released in CD and digital formats on 26 April. Read a full press release here.