I had been fortunate to see Manchester based post-rockers Civil Service live a couple of times throughout the years. I was really excited when they got in touch to let me know their debut album was finished and that they wanted to work with me. I was doubly excited to find out they had recorded with producer and engineer Dave Sanderson to bring this epic to life – a long time collaborator of the brilliant 65daysofstatic. Civil Service have also brought in some special guests and friends of mine to play on the album, including the wonderful narrated poetry of Caroline Cawley (of Dystopian Future Movies and Church Of The Cosmic Skull) to bring the album’s concept to life. Din Of Celestial Birds (who I also work with) lend their voices to a digital choir in the album’s big finale too.
From the very first listen I was completely floored by the ambition, scope and amount of detail that Civil Service have captured here. ///LIGHT boasts so much intricacy and buried details. The sonic pallet on display is colourful, vibrant and explosive. Another thing that continues to wow me about this record is the tremendous bass playing from James Wilkes. Unusually, the bass guitar often feels like the main driving force of these compositions, allowing the shimmering guitars and accompanying synths to play a more textural role, wrapping around these chunky and groovy bass riffs. Civil Service truly know how to take one or two elegant motifs and run with it, creating lengthy instrumentals that never grow stale. The aural equivalent of a grand building slowly coming to life.
Civil Service as a band are incredibly well organised in all aspects of their craft, and had a strong vision for what they wanted to achieve with this album and how to promote it, even making music videos for all five tracks. ///LIGHT is an album I keep coming back to. One I take pleasure in fully immersing myself into its lore.
ACCOLADES
“They may be new kids on the block, but Civil Service already sound like seasoned pros. They’re not trying to re-invent the post-rock wheel. Rather they encapsulate everything that makes it great.”
~ Prog Magazine #154
“A sonic epic brimming with expansive soundscapes, intricate compositions, and a bold collaborative vision. ///LIGHT is as expansive as it is intimate.”
~ Idioteq
“Immersion, it’s a word that defines this album. Civil Service are also capable of creating earnest rock movements, groovy touches, heavy rhythms, and infectious melodies too.”
~ 9/10 GBHBL
FROM THE PRESS KIT
Starting on a high note, Civil Service set an exquisite precedent with the challenging and multi-faceted fourteen minute opener ‘RETREAT’. Built upon a lingering and steady bass guitar groove, the rest of the band duck and dive around this vibrant motif with exuberant textured guitar leads and lively drums. Civil Service and producer Dave Sanderson weave in a sonic bath of dense synth textures creating this swelling, neon coloured atmosphere akin to wandering through Neo-Tokyo – or perhaps Neo-Manchester. This is the sound of Civil Service worldbuilding and flexing sonic lore. Leading single ‘LINES OF COMMUNICATION’ follows and is suitably the quartet’s most immediate cut, bursting with life and the kind of epic sound that is destined for summer festival stages. Here Civil Service explore themes of modern technology and communication, packed with layers of guest spoken-word in many native languages from friends and peers, and even samples of radio signals and morse code are buried. This builds a thick, shoegazy wall of sound, bringing together influences from both Mogwai and Slowdive. ‘APOLOGY’ is another driving belter where glistening guitars and electronic textures weave around each other. Sounding like a muscular workout jam, here Civil Service’s love of classic sci-fi scores and even synthwave acts come to fruition.
What a way to conclude this post-rock science fiction experience other than an epic two-part suite stretching to twenty minutes in length. ‘She Felt The Yawning Skyline’ throws everything at you – A true feast for the senses – from melancholy and restrained through to explosive and action packed. Patient listeners must stick around for the big finale including a full choir – assembled through the power of digital recording and file-sharing – featuring Civil Service’s post-rock comrades and bands they have shared stages with, including Din Of Celestial Birds, Dutch Elm, L.O.E., and New Ghost. Producer Dave Sanderson has truly taken all of his best skills and assets from his many times working with 65daysofstatic and applied those gifts to Civil Service. These collaborative unions expertly bring full circle Civil Service’s desires to feel a true belonging in a music scene and be part of a community of similar minds. /// LIGHT is a true monument; a wildly ambitious, joyous, exciting and immaculately detailed work of art that feels steeped in modern post-rock lore and culture, lovingly crafted by life-long dedicated fans of the genre.
Released on October 4th 2024 through Ripcord Records on CD and Digital.
PR TRAIL 