Code returns after 25 years of silence to release ‘Ghost Ship’ incl. rebooted debut single ‘Light Years’
The Kent based quartet Code debuted in 1995 with “The Architect” which was released on the Third Mind label just as that company folded. Out on November 6th is “Ghost Ship”, the newest album from Code, the first album from the band since 1995. “Ghost Ship”, the band’s second studio album, has certainly been a long time coming but finally arrives after a 25 year journey and will be available on vinyl and digital formats via the Lo-Tek Audio Ltd imprint. Note that the new album also holds their 1991 debut single “Light Years” in a rebooted version.
Discussing how the new album came about after such a lengthy hiatus, as well as its title, the band explain that “we had recently been approached simultaneously by two labels regarding a reissue of ‘The Architect’ that made us consider revisiting material from just after its recording that had been left behind. At the same time, the MV Alta cargo ship washed up intact on the coast of Ireland after disappearing over a year before en route to Haiti. The ‘adrift in time’ analogy appealed to us, and hence the title ‘Ghost Ship’.”
Was it difficult restoring the material? Not really so it seems, although they got confronted with some hurdles. “From 1996 to around 2001 we archived the material on hard drives. We have actually salvaged hours of material that was largely in great shape and needed minimal adjustment. The original sequencing and arrangement programs are lost in time and the sampling hardware is no longer available either, so all these tracks are constructed from the stereo mixes. Like salvaged treasure, the original audio was perfectly preserved digitally. The melodic and textural content was already there, it was a question of remaining faithful to the original recordings, editing and layering and in some cases adding new parts.”
Here is the opening track “Origin”.
Third Mind Records, a cult label
Founded by Gary Levermore in February 1983, Third Mind Records became one of the leading British independent labels for experimental, melancholic and electronic music during the 1980s. It was bought by Roadrunner Records in 1991 and eventually disbanded in late 1994, early 1995.
Released on the label were albums from In The Nursery, Front Line Assembly, The Moon Seven Times, Bill Pritchard, Controlled Bleeding, Intermix, Will, Doubting Thomas and many more.
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