{"product_id":"the-wolfgang-press-asylum-variations","title":"The Wolfgang Press - Asylum Variations","description":"\u003cp\u003eNearly three decades after 4AD let them go, The Wolfgang Press have settled into a remarkable second act. Michael Allen and Andrew Gray revived the name in 2020, recruited Stephen Gray on synthesisers, and returned in 2024 with \u003cem\u003eA 2nd Shape\u003c\/em\u003e, their first new album in close to thirty years. \u003cem\u003eAsylum Variations\u003c\/em\u003e, the band's ninth studio album, arrives on Downwards and pushes that reborn sound somewhere darker and more taut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title nods to Elgar's \u003cem\u003eEnigma Variations\u003c\/em\u003e, and Allen has said the songs circle a common theme: how an increasingly unsteady world weighs on him and the people around him. Opener \"Speakers Don't Speak\" rides a locked, Can-like groove under processed, VCS3-style guitar and Allen's low, menacing vocal, landing somewhere between the band's late-'80s high point \u003cem\u003eBird Wood Cage\u003c\/em\u003e and the dance-floor strut of \u003cem\u003eQueer\u003c\/em\u003e. From there the record moves through dub-heavy space on \"Lizard\" and \"Bind Us,\" sharp-edged hooks on \"Blood on the Leaves,\" and a closing \"Man Made Heaven\" that sinks from dirge-like guitars into industrial noise, with Allen's daughters adding voices along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSelf-produced and built up at Metway Studio in Brighton from material first tracked straight to ADAT, it is the most immediate and unsettling thing the trio has made since reforming, a reminder of why they remain one of post-punk's most restless and quietly influential bands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLimited edition pressing on transparent yellow vinyl, with artwork by former 4AD v23 designer Chris Bigg.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AMS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":50758762627234,"sku":null,"price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/5024\/3490\/files\/4528961-3670641.jpg?v=1793221115","url":"https:\/\/staticatx.com\/products\/the-wolfgang-press-asylum-variations","provider":"Static ATX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}