Album Notes

Mark Northfield's music is best described as Alt-Classical, being primarily classical arrangements of alt-rock style songs. He released Ascendant in March 2008 on his own label, Substantive Recordings.

The album is a piano/string led continuous soundtrack of melancholic beauty in collaboration with eight other singers from various genres. His lush arrangements and lyrical poise create something truly out of the ordinary, with references to the dark atmospherics of 4AD acts such as Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil as well as the romantic stylings of Kate Bush, Rufus Wainwright and The Divine Comedy.

The lead vocalists are as follows:

Waiting For Green - Matt Crutchlow
Resistance - Christopher Killerby
The Calm - The Pearsall Consort with Bryony Lang
Sleeping Beauty - Paul Cozens
Decidedly Dumb - Ellen Jakubiel
Weight - Bryony Lang
Zero - Mark Northfield
Our Father - Jon Payne
Luco - Jamie McCarthy and Alex Howlett

The front and rear artwork for the album is taken from paintings by Tamara Dubnycnyj - a graduate from the RCA, London.


Reviews so far:

'A fine debut.' (Music Musings And Miscellany)

'Like a Tim Burton movie for the ears - quirky, detailed, immaculately produced...' (Bluesbunny 4/5)