Standers by Craven Faults

Standers is the second full-length album by Craven Faults. It follows a trilogy of long sold out EPs, 2020’s Erratics & Unconformities LP, the Enclosures mini-album and a series of studio performances entitled Live Works.

Meticulously curated, each release moves the Craven Faults story forward. Each one a self-contained analogue electronic journey across northern Britain, viewed through the lens of a century in popular music. Studios, venues and movements. Technology and ingenuity. Vibrations. Lines drawn to connect those moments of inspiration.

On Standers, there’s a sonic shift. A new palette to paint from and further refinement of the craft. We’re no longer exclusively travelling overland. Familiar landscapes are viewed from a different perspective. There’s a growing obsession in how this island came to look the way it does, and how its ancient and modern history affects its current population. Landscapes shaped by the elements, and then by countless conquerors and settlers. Livestock and machinery. Money, religion and politics.

We begin at the boundary. The highest point. On a clear day you can see all the way to the east coast. The heavy industry that’s grown up around the mouth of the river, stands out in this ancient landscape. We’ve seen it change. Subtle shifts to the untrained eye, but with seismic consequences. With all this laid out in front of you, it’s impossible not to be moved. We’ve been stood here for 800 years, so it takes a little time to build up momentum. It’s heavy work. The unanswered question once again echoes through the air. Originally composed in 1908, revised in the 1930s, but not performed until 1946.

We head due west a short way. From the viaduct you can see the scenery changes. Softer lines where the sandstone gave less resistance to the rivers of ice. An experiment. We float downstream from here. 1966.

There’s no place like home. We ascend through the clouds and we’re travelling above the weather. A moment of calm. The scars of early industry are visible where the clouds break. Where a thousand strong pairs of hands and ingenious engineering methods once removed tonnes of lead from the ground, it now lays silent. Open to the elements. Nature is doing its best to cover our tracks. You have to know where to look. Fours and threes. The scenery changes with the weather. Château d'Hérouville, 1976.

An hour or so north we happen upon a rich seam. Fiercely disputed. A scandal. Untold riches on one side. Bankruptcy and imprisonment on the other. A case study in how the land was divided, and how this legacy has been passed down through generations. History repeats. Bell Labs, 1974 – 1976 and the memory of an LP bought in 1980 but not revisited in years.

Retracing our route, sometimes a borrowed piano is inspiration enough. It’s walked the same paths in a different life. Eloquent and graceful. Many left their mark here, and an obscure Roman goddess protects these waters.

We wind our way east for the home leg. The Norse influence is evident here. It’s in the dialect and the place names. It’s in the movement of livestock for seasonal grazing. United Western Recorders 1970 and Britannia Row 1982 via the city on the other side of the Pennines. An approximation of the human voice - a fitting end.

Half-remembered journeys across post-industrial Yorkshire.

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