(Photo by Angela Conway) Duet Emmo was a project that emerged in 1982, and it consisted of Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis (in a hiatus in the trajectory of the group Wire of which they were part) together with Daniel Miller. The name Duet Emmo is actually an anagram of the words Mute and Dome. Dome was the band Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert had started in 1980 (originally under the name Cupol) which published a couple of albums.

So how did these three musicians end up together? All three had been friends for a long time as they had all been using Blackwing Studios sharing the same engineer, Eric Radcliffe. An initial project had been suggested in 1980 but the success of Depeche Mode and Yazoo had kept Miller busy until the end of 1982.

Duet Emmo released the – excellent – album “Or So It Seems” in 1983, from which the single of the same name was released. The original 8-track album was recorded in the periods between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in ’81 and ’82 with legendary engineer Eric Radcliffe at their favoured studio, Blackwing in London. The album’s artwork was a collage by the Brothers Quay redesigned by Bart van Damme. Later, Gilbert and Lewis returned to Wire, while Miller ultimately pursued a career as a producer through Mute.

Coming up now on August 19th is the long-awaited remastered release of the 1983 album “Or So It Seems” on double vinyl, CD and digitally. The reissue has been recently remastered from the original analogue tapes by Stefan Betke and the double vinyl also includes the 8-minute re-mixed 12” b-side version of the title track, “Heart of Hearts (Or So It Seems)” which previously was only available on CD.

Listen to the title track right below.

Here’s how the release will look like.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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The Texas-based post-punk / electronic music trio, who prefer being described as a ‘heatwave’ act instead of a post-punk or coldwave act actually, are set to release their debut album “Hyper Hollow Heaven” today on March 26, 2022, via the independent label à La Carte Records. For those who wouldn’t know, Don’t Get Lemon was also featured on our recent “Post​-​Punk (Genesis)” compilation with the excellent track “Working Man’s Ballet”, their most recent single.

Don’t Get Lemon consists of vocalist Austin Curtis, synth/guitar/drum programmer Nick Ross and bass player / percussionist Bryan Walters. The new album which also includes the recent single “Working Man’s Ballet“, an ode to legendary English footballer Alan Hudson, is the follow up to the band’s pair of EPs, 2020’s “Forward Not Forgetting” and 2019’s “Grey Beach“, as well as the New Order tribute single with à La Carte labelmates “True Faith” that arrived earlier this year.

3 singles to follow

The LP is led by a string of singles to be released now and in 2022: Boxing Day’s kaleidoscopic “Industrial (Amusement) Park (Revolution)”; February’s glossy synth ballad “D.I.E.I.N.T.H.E.U.S.A.” and mid-March’s “Purple Hour Kingdom” featuring guest vocals from Renay of Monochrome Lover.

So, the recapitulate, here’s what is coming up:

• Single 1: “Industrial (Amusement) Park (Revolution)”, set for a December 26 release
• Single 2: “D.I.E.I.N.T.H.E.U.S.A.”, set for a February 08 2022 release
• Single 3: “Purple Hour Kingdom”, set for a March 15 2022 release

Here’s already the video for “Industrial (Amusement) Park (Revolution)”. The single is available here on Spotify and right here on Bandcamp.

“Change can only come through collective action”

The 8 tracks on the album echo the fear, panic, and anxiety “we’re forced to live with on a daily basis as our future grows inherently darker (…) to borrow a line from Adam Curtis’ 2016 BBC docu-film ‘HyperNormalisation’, regarding Patti Smith and how she experienced New York City in the ‘70s, the eight-song ‘Hyper Hollow Heaven’ is best experienced with a slight cool detachment.”

And they add: “Thinking about the reality (…) change can only come through collective action, which is tough to commit to because it’s a form of self-sacrifice, and goes against our own self-preservation. Which is ironically what we need to survive on this planet. Some of the images created can be dark and surreal but there is also tongue-in-cheek black comedy and humor to the absurdity of it all and that in a twisted way there’s a seduction in seeing the end. The lyrics are conscious of the futility of art in saving us. That’s not to say art isn’t a reason for living or isn’t beautiful, but it in and of itself cannot bring wide-spread change.”

LP, cassette… and VHS

The LP will be issued on vinyl, cassette, and VHS tape, mirroring Adam Curtis’ use of archival footage to help visualize the narrative.

The band explained us the choice for a VHS: “The VHS is the definitive ‘Hyper Hollow Heaven’ experience because we expand upon the lyrical content and provide visuals to reinforce the album’s motifs,” the band says. “Listening to albums can at times be passive, and you may detach yourself from the lyrics, but with an unrelenting visual you are forced to sit and digest what you are hearing and seeing.”

Back catalogue

These are the previous releases.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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The Storming the Base Boxing Week sale has opened since 2 days. This is the moment to get yourself some super cheap CDs and vinyl. Their sale ends on December 31, so be quick.

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the weekday or Saturday following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their masters, employers or customers, in the United Kingdom, The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other former British colonies. Today, Boxing Day is the bank holiday or public holiday that generally takes place on 26 or 27 December.

Check out the selection on this Storming The Base page.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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