Clay Pipe Music is delighted to hold an afternoon event at Soho Poly, one of London’s most influential fringe theatre venues. Founded in the late 1960s in the basement of the Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster), it became a pioneering space for lunchtime theatre and bold new writing under Verity Bargate and Fred Proud, staging early work by writers such as Hanif Kureishi and Caryl Churchill.
The Polytechnic was also a key site for popular music, hosting Jimi Hendrix’s first UK performance and early rehearsals by Nick Mason and Roger Waters’ Sigma 6, later to become Pink Floyd.
David Boulter is a founding member of Tindersticks. He has made over 20 studio albums with the band, and under his own name he has worked on music for many films. Nottingham-born but based in Prague since 1998, he has released several acclaimed records on Clay Pipe Music, from the nostalgia-tinged Yarmouth LP — which draws on childhood seaside memories — to St Ann’s, a reflective tribute to his Nottingham upbringing.
D. Rothon is the recording name of musician and composer David Rothon. His debut for Clay Pipe, Nightscapes (2020), drew on the mystery and quiet allure of the nocturnal world, capturing the moods and stillness of nighttime. He followed this with Memories of Earth (2023), a subtly cosmic album inspired by themes of space exploration, loss, and longing.
Micro Moon is a London-based Anglo-Spanish duo comprising pianist/synthesist Isabel Pérez Castro and guitarist/synthesist Stephen Holbrook. Their debut release on Clay Pipe Music, Figure in a Landscape, is a beautifully atmospheric mini CD inspired by their shared explorations of landscapes — including the haunting sound mirrors of Romney Marsh in Kent and the remote Galician mountains of Spain.
The Hardy Tree is the musical project of Frances Castle, founder of Clay Pipe Music. She will be performing All the Hours, a single long-form piece that follows a day on a London street, from morning to night. The music accompanies a slow-moving animation inspired by the artwork from her previous album, Common Grounds.
For
his new album, Irreparable
Parables,Andrew
Wasylyk felt a strong desire to write a set of songs featuring an
element hitherto rare in his work: the human voice. Equally strong
was the conviction that he did not want to sing them himself.
The
Scottish multi-instrumentalist and composer set about assembling a
group of guest singers, sending out the songs to wherever they were
in the world. The vocals were recorded remotely and then, like
migrating birds, winged their way back to Scotland. The result is an
album of great beauty which, perhaps preeminently in Wasylyk’s
work, expresses the vulnerability and resilience of the human spirit.
Six
singers appear on the record, represented by six songbirds
illustrated on the sleeve by Clay Pipe Music’s
Frances Castle. The cuckoo is a nod to Belle and Sebastian’s
2004 single ‘I’m
A Cuckoo’,
that band’s
Stuart
Murdoch
being the first voice you hear on the new album. When the vocal for
‘Private
Symphony #2’
arrived, says Wasylyk, “it
was everything that I was looking for and more. But this is Stuart
Murdoch. Of course he’s
going to make something incredibly beautiful and thoughtful.”
The
song lyrics were, for the most part, written by the singers. The
music is Wasylyk’s
creation. He navigates a sound world that lies somewhere beyond the
borders of classical and jazz, ambient and abstract. It is difficult
to describe, but easy to understand, which is to say to feel.
That is the way Wasylyk’s
work is experienced: as a feeling. It takes you back to childhood,
perhaps, to feelings of comfort and safety, or to memories of walks
at sunrise and sunset, or to the way a shadow falls on a particular
field in a particular place at a particular time in your life. This
is consoling music. That is why, though pretty, it is not merely
pretty. These are songs to shore up the soul.
Wasylyk
writes in a room, in his native Dundee, full of “half-broken”
instruments.
He picks these up, plays a little, seeking an idea, a feeling, a door
that lies ajar. The musical palette of Irreparable
Parables
includes brass and woodwind, a six-piece string section, guitar,
bass, drums, vibraphone, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, tape loops,
synthesisers and percussion. The strings were arranged by the cellist
Pete Harvey, a long-term collaborator.
Among
the other guest vocalists are Gruff
Rhys
of the Super Furry Animals, Saya
Ueno
from Japan’s
Tenniscoats and Peter
Brewis
from Field Music. Wasylyk himself takes the lead vocal on the title
track, though a throat infection and touch of pitch-shifting have
altered his singing in a way that even he, having fallen out of love
with his own voice, finds acceptable.
The
heart of the record can, arguably, be found in two tracks, ‘Love
Is A Life That Lasts Forever’
and
‘Spectators
In The Absence of God’,
sung respectively by Molly
Linen
and Kathryn
Joseph.
The former, bright with trumpets, was inspired by the writing of
Derek Jarman. “I
was feeling deeply upset about the world and wanted to try and write
something that was obviously hopeful,”
Wasylyk
says.
‘Spectators
…’
offers
an emotional counterpoint. It is an “apocalyptic
hymn”
that
seems to grapple with watching human suffering from afar, too distant
to be at physical risk, but experiencing the psychological wounding,
and feelings of helplessness, even complicity, that come with
constant awareness of other people’s
pain. “Kathryn’s
a pal, I love her dearly, and she’s
a brilliant artist who really feels what she writes,”
Wasylyk
says. “The
cracked tenderness of her voice is spellbinding.”
The
album closes with an instrumental piece, ‘Soul
Enters The Ocean Sun Climbs Out Of The Sea’,
all piano and strings, that offers a sense of resolution and
ascension. A good moment, too, for Wasylyk to reflect upon the
artistic companionship that he enjoyed while making this record –
the
songbirds that answered his call: “These
humans are incredible at what they do. I’m
deeply grateful and feel so lucky. It blows my mind.”
‘Irreparable
Parables’, released Friday 6th March, 2026 through Clay Pipe Music
& State 51 on vinyl, CD & digital.
Dinked Edition, marbled vinyl with numbered print signed (by illustrator Frances Castle) and a CD of Inundated Indentations(Inundated Indentations is a companion piece to Irreparable Parables, that exists as a self-contained work in its own right. Composed entirely of instrumentals, it offers alternative mixes that stand apart from the original recordings). 500 copies. SOLD OUT
Clay Pipe Bundle (only from the label) includes vinyl of Irreparable Parables, vinyl of Inundated Indentations - an enamel badge and signed cards by Stuart Murdoch, Molly Linen and Gruff Rhys. 100 copies. SOLD OUT
As
the days get shorter and the winter solstice approaches, here are a few
seasonal offerings from Clay Pipe to hopefully give you some cheer. All items are available from our Greedbag and Bandcamp shops.
The Clay Pipe Calendar returns for 2026, featuring artwork from across the label’s catalogue.
There’s also a new set of four greetings cards, each depicting a character from European Christmas and Yuletide folklore.
After many requests over the past year, I’ve finally made a Giclée print of Cate Brooks’ Lofoten artwork — a super-high-quality print on textured Hahnemühle German Etching paper, signed and numbered in an edition of just 40.
We also have the new Clay Pipe Music canvas accessory pouch with embroidered logo.
All items are available now while stocks last. If you’re based outside the UK, you’ll find shipping cheaper via the Greedbag shop.
Oneiric has been picking up some great reviews, here’s what the papers say:
“It’s such a listenable album, weird and woozie in
places, clear and direct in others. Just like your dreams… I’ll wager
you’ll find yourself listening to it two or three times in a row the
first time you put it on” Moonbuilding
“A masterclass in eclecticism” Shindig!
“A pupil-flicking riot of joyous befuddlement” Electronic Sound
“TNT-period Tortoise with a nostalgically psychedelic twist” Uncut
“Blissed-out sounds with a few chills from Nordic dreamweaver” Prog Magazine
“Songs presenting themselves as wistful meditations, and others transporting the listener to realms beyond our comprehension” Far Out Magazine
Read an interview with Arne on the Clay PipeSubStack
________________
Clay Pipe Music is thrilled
to welcome to the label
Norway’s Rural
Tapes
- the alias of producer
and multi-instrumentalist Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen.
His
new record Oneiric is one for the dreamers - a trippy,
cosmic aural experience of mostly instrumental music, recorded on
analogue equipment at his Nygrenda Vev & Dur studio in rural
Norway. Arne is also joined on two vocal tracks by long-time
collaborators Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and Gary Olson (The Ladybug
Transistor).
He
says: “The word Oneiric refers to things connected with dreams.
I've drawn inspiration from the strange, surreal, humorous,
imaginative, and vividly colourful experiences that often unfold
within them.”
“I
have played with genres, sounds and timbres and put together pieces
of music that I think could be the soundtrack to a dream sequence. I
love the way a dream can be so bizarre and yet still feel so natural,
and I can relate to that otherworldliness in the way I compose and
put together musical pieces. Some songs have a clear structure, some
have not, some are minimalist, some are maximalist, some are wistful
and some are joyful, but I think all of them are quite colourful and
playful.”
“I’ve
taken inspiration from many different music eras and many different
corners of the world, from quirky British music to French dream pop
to the 60s New York tape music scene to ambient and psychedelic
music. The music is created hands on using old analogue gear
such as tape machines, dictaphones, tape echoes and more to colour
the music and give the sounds the right textures. This way I feel
connected to the music I make.”
Over
the past two decades, Arne has established himself as a key figure
in the Norwegian music scene. He has played in influential bands
including I Was A King and Heroes & Zeros, and more recently has
been releasing music and playing live with The No Ones —
alongside Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey and The Minus 5, and I Was A
King frontman Frode Strømstad.
He
launched his Rural Tapes
project in 2021 with
a self-titled debut which
established
his reputation for inventive, forward-thinking music. He
has continued to draw
widespread praise
across subsequent releases, including Inner
Space Music (2022)
and Contact
(2024).
David Boulter, best known as a long-time member of Tindersticks, returns to Clay Pipe Music with Whitby - an evocative mini-album inspired by the stark beauty and unsettling calm of England’s North Yorkshire coast.
Unlike the familiar seaside towns of his youth - Great Yarmouth, Scarborough, Filey - Whitby held no particular memories for Boulter until he visited with his family in the summer of 2024. "I’m constantly inspired by my surroundings, or memories of them," he says. "Sat on an almost deserted beach, halfway between Whitby and Sandsend, it really hit me. The absolute beauty - and how alien it seemed. It was quite a stormy day: grey skies coming in off the North Sea, sun breaking through. The way the light hit the rocks, scattered across the beach; the waves crashing. Walking up to the ruined Abbey at sunset, again almost deserted. I imagined human life disappeared."
That sense of stillness and natural drama became the emotional core of the album. "At a time when it seems we are pushing our planet to the edge, and the wars we rage continue, I felt such calm and connection to the landscape - and how simple beauty can be. The whale bones on the hill reminded me how we always take so much. But we can change."
As with much of his work, Boulter began composing in response to these experiences. On Whitby, the music takes on a more organic quality than his previous releases. While he initially made field recordings of the environment, he later chose to reinterpret them musically - using instrumentation to evoke the atmosphere of the coast: sitting on the beach, walking up by the Abbey, tracing the path of the old Cinder Track railway line.
The result is a quietly powerful musical meditation on history, landscape, and the enduring presence of nature.
There are imagined
landscapes we all carry within us—dreamed, half-remembered, or just
beyond reach. Lofoten,
the new album by Cate Francesca Brooks on Clay Pipe Music, is a
musical reflection on one such place.
Located above the
Arctic Circle, Norway's Lofoten Islands are known for their dramatic
peaks, open seascapes, and distinctive red fishing cabins dotting the
shoreline. Though Brooks has never visited this remote northern
region, it became an unexpected source of inspiration.
The project began
when Cate listened to a narrated "sleep story" set in the
islands. Intrigued, she researched the region and found herself drawn
to its stark beauty. "I fell in love with creating an impression
of somewhere I would probably never visit, but felt a real affinity
with," she explains.
This ambitious
album translates that connection into sound. Through carefully
crafted electronics, melodic themes, richly layered textures and big
production, Brooks captures the essence of Lofoten—its icy light,
vast horizons, and profound quiet.
"The other
thing that happened around the same time was the first lockdown here
in the UK. I had taken the opportunity of having some extra time to
learn a new (to me) method of synthesis; that of the Synclavier,
which uses one aluminium wheel and an array of buttons to control
every parameter of the sound.
"I took to it
with intrigue and before I knew it, I had built up hundreds of
original sounds, many of which were perfect for the textures I could
hear in my head for Lofoten. So that (along with a Prophet synth and
a TR-808) became the sound world."
Lofotenstands
as an evocative testament to how music can transport us to distant
places, transforming geographical limitations into imagined creative
possibilities.
Second edition available Friday 23rd May via - Bandcamp
Clay Pipe will be at the Independent Label Market on Saturday 10th May 2025 with lots of rare back stock, new stock, vinyl LPs, enamel badges, prints, Mini CDs, Flexi discs and test pressings!
Please drop me an email if you are coming and would like to reserve an item.
Clay
Pipe Music
invites you to take a journey through the Midlands countryside with
Frankley
My Dear–
a new Mini CD housed in a handmade box from Andy Baker’s The
Baker Fields.
The
5-track collection takes its cue from a bicycle ride through Andy’s
local area – past the duck pond at Lickey Hills, through Uffmoor
Woods (named after the great Mercian King Offa, where a carpet of
bluebells appears in spring), and on to Frankley Beeches, which
overlooks Birmingham. On Bonfire Night, people gather here to watch a
million fireworks across the city, and on quieter days, you might
hear the call of a Yellow Hammer. The journey also takes in the old
church in Romsley, named after St Kenelm, who was believed to have
been murdered on the nearby Clent Hills.
Each
track is infused with a fuzzy melancholy, melodic grace, and a gentle
psychedelic undercurrent – music shaped by quiet lanes,
half-forgotten landmarks, and the gentle passing of time.
Clay
Pipe Music is pleased to introduce London-based Anglo-Spanish
duo Micro Moon
- pianist/synthesist Isabel Pérez Castro and guitarist/synthesist
Stephen Holbrook.
Their
Mini CD Figure
in a Landscapeblends
classical piano with rich electronic textures and melodies, taking
you to diverse locations—from the sound mirrors of Romney Marsh in
Kent to the atmospheric Fábrica da Luz, or 'light factories,'
nestled in the Galician mountains of Spain. It’s a beautifully
crafted sonic journey inspired by the various regions they have hiked
and explored.
After
discussing a musical collaboration for years, the
couple finally
started working together during the early days of the pandemic,
experimenting with sound at home and teaching themselves production
along the way. This lead to their debut project Public
Health—a
work inspired by an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection on
historical public health initiatives, as well as Iain
Sinclair’s
book Living
with Buildings and Walking with Ghosts.
Iain
allowed them to use some spoken text from the book for their track,
City
Rites.
Drawing
on subtractive synthesis, drone music, the Radiophonic Workshop, and
psychogeography, Figure
in a Landscape
sees the duo crafting immersive compositions inspired by real-world
locations, transporting listeners into vivid aural environments.
