Gunship announce their debut album and premiere first ever music video created in GTA V’s PC editor
Album release: Gunship by Gunship
Release date: 24 July 2015
Label: Ingrooves
More Info: www.gunshipmusic.com
Gunship is a neon soaked, late night, sonic getaway drive, dripping with luscious analogue synthesizers, cinematic vocals and cyberpunk values, exploding from the front cover of a dusty plastic VHS case which has lain forgotten since 1984. Created by Dan Haigh, Alex Westaway and Alex Gingell, Gunship is an evolution of the of the recently popularised synthwave genre, which was originally started by Rosso Corsa records & The Valerie Collective artists. The band’s new album is due for release via INgrooves on 24th July 2015.
Today Gunship are set to make history with the premiere of the first music video created within the Rockstar Games’ PC editor for Grand Theft Auto 5. The video is the cinematic accompaniment to ‘The Mountain’ the second track to date to be released by the band.
‘The Mountain’ video is an example of cutting edge Machinima (the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production), which was put together in partnership with the ‘8-BIT BASTARD’ team. The music video is littered with homages to classic 1980s movies such as Blade Runner and The Terminator resulting in a super retro cinematic adventure told using incredibly contemporary storytelling technology. It bears a lot of similarities to other projects coming out of the synthwave scene such as ‘Kung Fury’, Drive and The Guest and goes on to show the ever expanding and evolving nature of the scene.
Gunship is more of a story than a soundtrack, written large across an eighties action cinema screen, where the narrative interweaves romance, hope, fear, technology, the threat of nuclear obliteration, and ultimately the need to celebrate life. Both bleak and dystopian at times but also progressive, uplifting and danceable.
Gunship’s sound is created with vintage analogue synthesizers and other retro electronic gear available in the 1980s. The music is driven by retro gear, inspired by nostalgia for a bygone era but they use this approach to yield something fresh and new. The debut album is sonically diverse - blending sweeping fluorescent synth lines with fever pitched and adrenalizing electric bass arpeggios. This musical foundation, sometimes dark and brooding, sometimes romantic, underpins emotive and cinematic vocals.
The new album also features guest vocals by John Carpenter, Charlie Simpson (Fightstar), Lou Hayter (New Young Pony Club), Martin Grech, and Stella Le Page. Upcoming remixes include Miami Nights 1984, Make Up And Vanity Set, April Towers and Carpenter Brut.
‘The Mountain’ video premiered with VICE gaming today who say “The emerging trio's neon-soaked sonics are ideally suited to GTA V's movie-making toolset.”