{"product_id":"alison-cotton-the-gods-laugh-vinyl-lp-feeding-tube-pre-order-out-7-17-26","title":"Alison Cotton - The Gods Laugh (Vinyl LP, Feeding Tube) PRE-ORDER - Out 7\/17\/26","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis is a pre-order. It will ship on or around 7\/17\/26\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCo-released with Glitterbeat Records. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlison Cotton\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e's fifth solo album is a mesmerizing weave of haunted atmospherics and avant-folk songcraft. Built around her viola, harmonium, and transportive vocals, the album moves between stark drone passages and more layered arrangements with piano, percussion, and synths. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gods Laugh\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a work of quiet, sublime intensity, cementing Cotton's unique space in the contemporary English music scene -- a space where richly textured sonics meet tradition, and deeply personal compositions evoke the experimental spirit of artists like \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eNico\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Cale\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eDorothy Carter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gods Laugh\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a powerful restatement of all the things that make her music so transporting and immersive, but with a deeper emotional resonance resulting from a period of personal loss and upheaval. Alison has been recording for almost 30 years -- in bands like \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eSaloon\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Eighteenth Day of May\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Left Outsides\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e -- and her solo career, which started with a cassette release a decade ago, came about almost by accident. But in the ensuing years, Alison has developed a singular and affecting style according to parameters she set herself. For \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gods Laugh\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Alison played viola, harmonium, piano, hammer dulcimer, treble recorder, melodica, bowed cymbal and percussion, while her partner\/producer \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eMark Nicholas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e played drums, bass and synths (their first use on a Cotton album). As usual, the songs are mostly improvised and recorded in one take, layering instruments over a drone base. The exception is \"The Night it Darkens All Around Me,\" which was semi-improvised and with lyrics captured in an almost stream of consciousness style. The album also includes more piano, notably on \"Sprigs of Heather,\" an epistolary continuation of a tale begun on earlier releases. Alison's father passed away in 2024 and as well as gifting her the album's title and having encouraged her to take up the viola in the first place, his presence is felt throughout the album. The brief, melancholy tune \"The Final Harvest\" is about Alison's dad's final visit to his beloved allotment. The only song written before this period of loss was Alison's setting of Victorian rural poet \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Clare\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eI Am!\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Alison had been playing this live for some time but felt it \"moulded perfectly with the feel of the rest of the album.\" Cotton occupies a unique place in the current English music scene, the way that often quite experimental drones of her work meshes with the more traditional elements seeing her included with artists like Nico, John Cale and Dorothy Carter. After remarkable releases like \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Portrait You Painted of Me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (FTR 658LP) and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eEngelchen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (FTR 765LP), \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gods Laugh\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e feels like the fulfilment of incredible promise.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Cotton may expand folk's raw emotions into more avant garde territories, but they still feel possessed by a blood-red muscle memory that goes back centuries.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e - \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Quietus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jackpot Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48143113715930,"sku":null,"price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0624\/5705\/3402\/files\/FTR850LP_PROD.jpg?v=1783112678","url":"https:\/\/jackpotrecords.com\/products\/alison-cotton-the-gods-laugh-vinyl-lp-feeding-tube-pre-order-out-7-17-26","provider":"Jackpot Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}