Album Notes

PLEASE NOT ALBUM/INDIVIDUAL TRACKS NOW ONLY AVAILABLE FOR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. (CHECK OUT NAPSTER/I-TUNES ETC. Formed from the rusting wrecks of two behemoths of experimental rock, Nautilus brings together former members of Kent bands U-Boat and Nostromo. In 2002, keyboard player Paul Blewitt (ex Nostromo)met andy Challinor (guitar) via a mutual friend. Paul had seen Andy play in U-Boat and admired his angular and innovative guitar stylings that reminded him of King Crimson's Robert Fripp and Andy Partridge of XTC. Paul was keen to get back into a band again and outlined his idea of writting some left of feild pop along the lines of David Bowie's Scary Monsters or XTC's Black Sea. Andy, disenchanted with rock bands, suggested a somewhat different affair, largely consisting of laid back accoustic folk. They agreed to meet to see what they could come up with. What emerged was a long way from any of thier original ideas. In April of that year, Paul, Andy and Darryl Finch, a local drummer who they both knew well, got together to try out some ideas. Initial rehearsals were productive, but Darryl had other commitments and was unable to continue. Andy and Paul decided to carry on and started working on the material that would eventyally form their debut album "What Colours The Sky In Your World?". From the start, they decided that the quirky material was strong enough to stand alone, without vocals, and that the band would be instrumental. Over the next year and a half they steadily built up a strong yet varied reportiore. However, progress was hamperd by the frustrating difficulty in finding a rhythm section to take the music to the next level. After unsuccessfully trying out two bass playres and a drummer, they renunited with Darryl Finch in DEcember 2003, who agreed to help them record some material they had been working on for a demo/EP. At the same time and old freind of Paul's Rob Tyson was drafted in on bass on a simillar basis, rekindling a musical partnership that went back to 1987. The Idea was to record a four track demo, but after the success of the initial session in January, which produced four tracks, Rob and Darryl were keen to be more involved in the project and became permanent members of the band. A further two sessions in the spring yeilded enough material for an album and single, which were released in October 2004. The single couples two tunes. 'Garden gnomes' is a three part mini epic, encompassing funeral organs, country hoe downs and of course gnomes! couples with the off kilter sub hendrix blues of 'Dogs Dinner', it immediatley highlights the variety of influences; from David Bowie to Jimi Hendrix via Pink Floyd and King Crimson, Deep Purple and the Cardiacs. The debut album however takes a turn into rather darker territory. Much of the music that Andy and Paul had put together was fractured and dissonant. Tracks such as 'Dorrs To The Darkl Room', 'Cabin Fever' and Halloween Factory' are intense nightmarish musical journeys that convet a sense of menace and despair; driven by Challinors dark and angular guitar and augmented by the varied sounds and textures provided by the keyboards. In turn these are off set by the down beat, mournfull numbers 'Release' and 'Ghosts In The Wind'; whilst 'Bastogne' and 'Precious Things', include jazz, blues and symphonic rock stylings. Without vocals, the band's haunting, cinematic music speaks for itself and its questing, explorotory nature allows the listener to go wherever they wish to go.