Social commentary as an art form, at times, can mean that the message is lost within the art. Not so with Dragon Welding’s new album titled ‘These Are Dangerous Times’. The title says it all. These ARE dangerous times. We need to be reminded of that before we become totally engulfed within the complacency that is the social norm. Wedged in between the gritty basslines, subtle hooks, droning guitars, and buzz-driven vocals comes forth a message to the masses that says ‘WAKE UP!’
The debut 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 is now available as a limited-edition 11-track gatefold CD via Bandcamp and Limited Run as of today (July 5, 2019).
About Dragon Welding
Dragon Welding is the moniker (an anagram) for the solo project of Andrew Golding, a founding member of C86 pioneers The Wolfhounds. He earlier previewed the lead track ‘The Builders’, an epic six-minute hypnotic journey à la Moonshake about the gentrification of our cities with video animated by Andrew Golding himself.
“Change is essential. Stagnation leads to boredom and that, in turn, leads to frustration. The dilemma, of course, is identifying in advance the things we perceive needs to be changed, and what we think those things should be changed into? Should we throw away something that is flawed but functioning in the hope that swapping it for something else, that we can’t yet see, will be better? At the moment, I see a lot of people being presented with brightly painted and colorful boxes that are closed. They look appealing and they may contain treasure. They may, of course, be empty. These are dangerous times,” says Andrew Golding.
@TheWolfhounds [rotatingtweets screen_name=’TheWolfhounds’]Golding’s first solo output is remarkable, covering different genres, including post-punk, 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.
Musically, Dragon Welding features a rich blend of influences, the most obvious being The Wolfhounds and Moonshake, with nods to Neu! and Stereolab drone. Other tracks offer an eclectic mix of acoustic guitars and analog synths, reminiscent of German cult band The Notwist.
The material on both the ‘Dragon Welding’ LP and ‘These Are Dangerous Times’ EP 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 music also features contributions from Alice Golding (The Othyrs and Wolfhounds backing vocals) and son James Golding. The album’s cover artwork was created by his wife Helen.
The timing for these releases is perfect, with The Wolfhounds set to return to record new material somewhat soon for anticipated release in 2020.
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
