New Devices is the 3rd album from Leeds based trio and Mercury Prize nominees Roller Trio. A unique trio, their sound is modern and gritty, pushing sonic boundaries to their limits. Switching the feel of a tune in a heartbeat from edgy improv to anthemic power riffs to reverb-swamped note storms, Roller Trio are powerful and progressive. For this album, the line-up includes Chris Sharkey, a guitarist at the cutting-edge of contemporary guitar improv, alongside James Mainwaring, saxophone & electronics and Luke Reddin-Williams, drums. Their mix of high octane technicality and deceptively catchy tunes has transcended their Jazz heritage, bringing them acclaim from fans and critics alike. Their eponymous debut album was nominated for the 2012 Mercury Prize and the band were also nominated for MOBO's Best Jazz Act that same year.
The music is dark, gritty and urban - menacing bass lines underpinned by squalling improvising from guitar and sax attaining ultimately uplifting fulfilment. Built from sound fragments of Leeds nightlife formed and reformed through the musical intelligence and instrumental brilliance of the three musicians it’s an exhilarating, rollicking ride - an exercise in freeform free fall, a three for all free-for-all, moderated by the musical logic and compositional rigour of the pieces.
1. Decline Of Northern Civilisation
2. Milligrammar
3. A Whole Volga
4. Mad Dryad
5. Enthusela
6. The Third Persona
7. Sever So Slightly
8. Nobody Wants To Run The World
9. Dot Com Babel
Engineered by Ben Eyes (Moral Alignment and STUDIO VISIONARY) at the Trevor Jones Studio, University of York
Mixed by Chris Sharkey and Alex Bonney
Mastered by Peter Beckmann at Technologyworks Mastering
SHOWS
May 05
Cheltenham, UK
Jun 20
London, UK
