Andrew Golding, a.k.a. Dragon Welding, delivers a droning nouveau of hypnosis dedicated to the reassignment of the middle-class as solely a political tool to be seen but not heard. Gentrification, which this song brings attention to, is something that is rapidly overtaking the cities of our country, almost like a socio-economic version of HIV, intended to bring visual peace and prosperity to city centers once allegedly drenched in poverty and blight. The end result being the powers that be saying “Look what we did to improve our glorious city. Look how beautiful it looks. Go to the polls this November and show your gratitude.”
Andrew does a good job in conveying this within the music. The droning rhythm and distant despair in the vocals highlight those feelings to me. Sometimes there are injustices right under our very noses that we don’t see. And it takes a song to make us listen.
As of March 15, this album can be found everywhere digitally via A Turntable Friend Records with distribution worldwide by SRD (London, UK). The download comes with a digital booklet including lyrics. It will also be available as a limited-edition 11-track gatefold CD via Bandcamp and Limited Run.
About Dragon Welding
Andrew Golding, the founding member of C86 pioneers The Wolfhounds, presents his debut solo album under the moniker (a.k.a. anagram) Dragon Welding. Ahead of this, he previewed the lead track ‘The Builders’. The timing for this release is perfect, with The Wolfhounds set to return to record new material somewhat soon.
‘Dragon Welding’ is Golding’s first solo album and a remarkable effort, covering different genres, including alternative pop rock and indie-folk. As guitarist, writer, and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Golding has been a part of Wolfhounds since 1984 and has written, played and sung on every Wolfhounds album.
‘The Builders’ is an epic six-minute hypnotic journey à la Moonshake. It is about the gentrification of our cities. Andrew Golding himself also animated the accompanying video for this song.
Musically, Dragon Welding features a rich blend of influences, the most obvious being The Wolfhounds and Moonshake, with nods to Neu! and Stereolab drone, particularly on ‘The Builders’. Other tracks like ‘The Dumb’ or the driving ‘These Are Dangerous Times’ offer an eclectic mix of acoustic guitars and analog synths, reminiscent of German cult band The Notwist.
The ‘Dragon Welding’ LP was largely written, recorded, mixed and edited on mobile devices whilst commuting between Essex, Hammersmith, and Los Angeles. Final mastering was supervised by Ant Chapman (Collapsed Lung and Arndales).
This debut LP features contributions from Alice Golding (The Othyrs and Wolfhounds backing vocals) and son James Golding. The album’s cover artwork was conceived and painted by his wife Helen.
LINKS:
http://aturntablefriendrecords.limitedrun.com/products/635026-dragon-welding-dragon-welding
https://www.facebook.com/dragonweldingmusic
https://dragonwelding.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/TheWolfhounds
https://twitter.com/TheWolfhounds
