Fans of the likes of Soft Kill, Cold Cave, The Soft Moon, The KVB and similar artists would be interested to learn that following the recent release of EP, ‘An Object In Motion’, (Listen HERE), Drab Majesty have announced that they will kick off 2024 with an extensive UK and European tour, taking in dates across the British Isles in February, including a gig here in Brighton at Chalk in Pool Valley.
Drab Majesty 2024 UK live dates:
Feb 1 – London – Fabric
Feb 2 – Bristol – Strange Brew
Feb 3 – Manchester – Canvas
Feb 4 – Glasgow – Room 2
Feb 6 – Leeds – Belgrave Music Hall
Feb 7 – Birkenhead – Future Yard
Feb 8 – Brighton – Chalk
‘An Object In Motion’ marks the start of a stirring new chapter in Drab Majesty’s majestic legacy. Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote coastal Oregon town of Yachats, Deb Demure leaned into the neo-psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl-shaped 12-string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar. After early morning hikes in the rain, Deb would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into “flow states,” letting the sound lead the way. These sessions were then refined or recreated, and later elevated further with key collaborations by Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Meldal-Johnson (Beck, M83, Air), and Ben Greenberg (Uniform, Circular Ruin Studio). ‘An Object In Motion’ is true to its title, capturing the chrysalis moment of an artist evolving, reborn and untethered, silhouetted against an open horizon.
‘Cape Perpetua’ kicks off the collection’s divergent palette: sparkling acoustic finger-picking refracted through delay, equal parts raga and reverie. Melodies and moods congeal and dissipate, at the threshold of rustic American primitivism, brooding neo-folk, and pastoral melancholia. ‘The Skin And The Glove’ deploys jangle to different effect – baggy, soaring, grey-skied kaleidoscopic pop in the spirit of Stone Roses, Primal Scream, and The Glove. Rachel Goswell lends her iconic freefall voice to the Cure-esque ballad, ‘Vanity’, infusing poetic gravity to the doomed refrain: “If the valve breaks / then the earth quakes / and history finds a way / to put you in your place.”
But closing track ‘Yield To Force’ may be the most anomalous offering of the set. A 15-minute instrumental odyssey of cyclical strings, ominous slide guitar, and simmering synthesizer, the piece sways and spirals like a long zoom into distant storm clouds. Demure finesses the guitar with a restless but regal grandeur, unfolding a panorama of peaks, shadows, and plateaus. It’s music both intuitive and prophetic, tracing the slow swing of pendulums across an endless plain. Taken as a whole, ‘An Object In Motion’ presents a showcase of potential futures from Drab’s evolving domain, their sound poised to bloom at the precipice of transformation.
Keep your eyes peeled on social media for further details on where to purchase tickets for this forthcoming tour.
“What a welcome return this is… Soaring, gothic, melancholy sagas that sound like nothing else around.” – Electronic Sound
“An Object in Motion is like little else that Drab Majesty have released, a version of gothic guitar music divined from the static of deep space radiation.” – Pitchfork
“A bold move, but Deb Demure has never been shy.” – The Wire
