Devotees of cult Huddersfield alt-rockers The Scaramanga Six can look forward to 90 new minutes of thunderous, flamboyant music on their latest double album Chronica after the band hit 100% of its funding target for the project.
The band - brothers Steven and Paul Morricone, Julia Arnez and Gareth Champion - described the road to their ninth studio album as “a long and arduous journey.”
But they added: “We’re at the peak of the mountain and amazingly are still climbing.”
The album, which the band calls its “most uncompromising, bloated and lavish offering to date,” is already available to download. A physical release on CD and vinyl will follow later in the year.
To launch what they called “this gargantuan feast of new music” the band held a listening party during which pledgers could download the epic piece and offer their opinions.
They added: “We will be online answering questions and giving a few bits of detail on each track as it happens. Should be fun.”
With output variously described as TyrannoPop, luxury rock noir and schizophonic splattercore, the Six occupy a unique space in British rock. Their albums generally take two years to make from gestation via production to completion; Chronic began life in December 2015.
The Six said an enormous thank you to all the fans who pledged for the new album, which is released on their own label Wrath Records. “We are over the line and Chronica will most definitely now be released. This is all down to you.
“Physical copies and other items will follow in the coming months – please bear with us as it will take us a while to administer all the wonderful pledges. For now though it is immensely exciting to finally be able to launch the fruits of the last 18 months to your ears, something that we are very excited about.”
Fans who joined in the online debate highlighted the eclectic elements of the various compositions including spaghetti western whistling, clangy bells and immersive arrangements. One remarked: “This is like opening the door onto a whole room full of weird.”
With gigs lined up in Otley and Bristol the Six will give aficionados a taste of the new material.
Said Steven Morricone: “It seems The Six are entering a zenith of creativity, despite committing the music industry cardinal sins of mostly being over 40 and being around for over a decade.”
