Nightrunners by Altar Eagle

"While husband and wife duo Brad Rose and Eden Hemming might be best known for more ‘challenging’ sounds, they managed to rack up countless accolades for their first foray into pop, 'Mechanical Gardens,' when it emerged in 2010. 'Nightrunners' is Altar Eagle’s second full-length together and pushes the duo’s woozy pop sound into a flickering neon haze. The soft-focus beauty of Eden’s voice is now placed center stage, and the industrial-cum-electro pop productions are as dreamy and addicting as they’ve ever been.

Whether through the whimsical dub-influenced opener 'Carousel Ocean' or cold-wave shakes of album highlight 'Runaways,' the duo have an authenticity it’s impossible to duplicate, and a singular unifying quality to their music. As they saunter from electrified shoegazing notes to far darker sounds each track seems intrinsically linked to the next, and this gives 'Nightrunners' a touch of magic that brings to mind classic 4AD – from the jagged pop of This Mortal Coil to the outsider reggae of Colourbox. These are songs, first and foremost, but songs dragged kicking and screaming through forests, fields, microchips and frozen pizza. Just lie back and enjoy the ride."

Second Place in Tiny Mix Tapes' Favorite Album Artwork of 2012

“When the adjective optimistic is used to describe electronic pop music, the sounds of treacly, unimaginative boy-girl duos with musical knowledge so primitive they make Beat Happening look like Beethoven in comparison often come to mind. A highly welcome change of pace, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Altar Eagle pen mature, subtle electronic pop songs with a finely honed appreciation for sounds and dynamics” -The Needle Drop

“Everybody knows that Brad Rose is a busy man. Lucky for us, dear reader, he still finds time to sit down with his wife and kick out stellar pop music under the Altar Eagle banner.” -OMG Vinyl

“Nightrunners is [Altar Eagle's] neon-hazy [second album] . . . industrial pop oriented, with strong traces of the early 4AD records they grew up with. Eden’s voice takes a leading role, contrasting her dreamy sweetness with Brad’s raspy, steppin’ drum machine patterns and layers of synth, guitar and electronics. The robust delicacy ‘Carousel Ocean’ is the perfect example, at once whimsical yet calculated and even noisy, while the rest of the LP passes through an alternating weather system from the dark clouds and driving pace of ‘Runaways’ to the gauzy shimmer of ‘Piglette’ and the churning turmoil of ‘Get Over It’ to fractured, Morr style techno-pop on ‘No Spring Till Summer’ or the jagged noise pop of ‘Hologram’.” -Boomkat

"...Nightrunners, is on par with the year's best shimmering froth from those who dare step into the dream pop ring. The album swims in the deep end of early 4AD and breathes new life into its ethereal folds." -Ad Hoc

Tracklist

1.	Carousel Ocean	4:35

2.	Digital Gold Future	3:42

3.	Runaways	3:46

4.	Piglette	3:26

5.	Get Over It	5:01

6.	Parallel Lives	3:23

7.	No Spring Till Summer	4:25

8.	Fledgling	4:09

9.	New Designs	4:54

10.	Hologram	4:27

11.	Carousel Ocean (Tom Kitty Oliver Remix)	3:01

12.	Digital Gold Futures (Seekers Dub Remix)	3:41

13.	Runaways (Cosmic Sound Remix)	3:16

14.	Piglette (Svamps Remix)	4:07

15.	Get Over It (Oxykitten Remix)	5:31

16.	Parallel Lives (No UFOs Remix)	6:01

17.	No Spring Till Summer (Discoverer Remix)	5:09

18.	Fledgling (Ghibli Remix)	2:44

19.	New Designs (Ricardo Donoso Remix)	4:47

20.	Hologram (Paco Sala Remix)	4:41

Credits

released January 1, 2013

Original art and design by Radek Drutis. Mastered by James Plotkin and cut to vinyl at D+M Berlin.

License

CC BY-NC 3.0. See the Creative Commons website for details.