| Release Date | 24/01/2025 |
| Format | LP *NO VINYL* |
| Label | Doughnut Music Lab |
| Catalogue Number | DML001 |
The physical version of this album is a 12-inch sleeve printed using recycled card and plant-based ink. Inside the sleeve are three double-sided art inserts and a Bandcamp download code, but *no vinyl record.*
A meticulously constructed collection of classic indie pop with a distinctly Glaswegian jangle, Dance of the Atoms is the Field Music-produced debut album from Beautiful Cosmos - the brand new project from wife-and-husband duo Anna Miles (Maple Leaves) and Matt Brennan (Zoey Van Goey, Citizen Bravo). The album is out 25th January 2025 on an innovative 12” record sleeve and download format through Doughnut Music Lab - an art and research collective that imagines how music might be produced and enjoyed in a post-fossil fuel future.
Having met and fallen in love whilst playing in bands in the Glasgow scene of the 2000s, music has been central to Anna and Matt’s relationship - though Dance of the Atoms marks the first time the couple have written music together. Born and raised in Newcastle, Anna was drawn to Glasgow as it’s “the home of all the music I like”. She previously led indie-pop band Maple Leaves, and as a session singer her crystalline vocals can also be heard on songs by Belle and Sebastian and Butcher Boy. Originally from Canada, Matt was a founding member of cult Scottish indie group Zoey Van Goey, before releasing two albums as Citizen Bravo on Chemikal Underground Records. The most recent - Return to H’yup - was an all-star tribute to Ivor Cutler which received 4-star reviews in MOJO and Uncut, and featured collaborations with the likes of Emma Pollock, Alex Kapranos, Stuart Braithwaite and Robert Wyatt. In some ways the genesis of Beautiful Cosmos is found on the closing track of that album, a haunting take on the Cutler song from which they take their name, which Anna and Matt performed together.
A professor of music at Glasgow University, Matt has authored several books on popular music. It was a simple tweet about his book on the social history of the drum kit that piqued the interest of brothers David and Peter Brewis (of the Sunderland-based, Mercury-nominated indie band Field Music), and led to them both producing and performing on the album. Being of a similar age and having a similar forensic interest in music and music history, as well as Anna’s North East upbringing, meant an immediate friendship was born. Matt says:
“It immediately clicked. They felt like friends immediately, which was an amazing experience.”
Following funding from the Small Awards Scheme run by Glasgow UNESCO City of Music, two of the tracks (‘Fans In The Shadows’ and ‘Gabrielle’) were recorded in Glasgow with producer Andy Monaghan (formerly of Frightened Rabbit), who also worked on Matt’s albums as Citizen Bravo.
Central to the album is the theme of approaching middle age, and the idea of putting out an indie-pop record in the second half of life, which Matt describes as “an authentic impulse that simultaneously feels absurd”. First single ‘Midlife’ wrestles with this absurdity before ruminating on the cosmos - another central theme to the album, and one continued on the title track. Matt says he feels calmest when revisiting his Canadian family home on Prince Edward Island in the summer months - watching the Perseid meteor shower whilst lying on the beach with Anna.
“I like to reflect that it's so improbable that any life exists at all. And there's this star so far away. And if we didn't have it, there'd be no life at all. And I don't know why I'm obsessed with that idea, but it gives me a sense of calm that most things in the world don't.”
From pondering the cosmos, to the hyper-local - ‘Gustav’ is Anna’s plea to a local graffiti artist that leaves their tag all over the west end of Glasgow, set to a jagged alt-pop beat that gives way to Anna’s calming flute solo in the final moments.
It’s telling that Matt is a professor of pop music, as the album is steeped in the duo’s love of pop history - from the incessant Talking Heads-style groove of ‘Pretender’ to the disco stomp of ‘Birds’, that Matt admits came from a discussion with the Brewis brothers about Michael Jackson and Shalamar, and takes equal inspiration from Justin Timberlake’s ‘Like I Love You’. The whole album is tied together by the duo’s keen ear for a hook, and Anna’s immaculate vocals.
The duo have already caught the attention of Marc Riley, who upon hearing the album, immediately played first single ‘Midlife’ on his BBC 6 Music show and booked the band in for a session in February 2025.
The album launches on 25th January 2025 with a special gig at the Glad Cafe in Glasgow, as part of the Celtic Connections festival. It’s also one of the first releases from Doughnut Music Lab - an art and research collective led by Matt that takes its name from the concept of ‘doughnut economics’, and imagines what shape musical life might take in a post-fossil fuel future. The release is an innovative ‘12” record sleeve and download’ format, giving space for the artwork on recycled card using plant-based inks, originally hand painted by Anna herself. However there is a conspicuous absence of an actual record, meaning there’s no PVC plastic involved - one of the most environmentally hazardous plastics we have.
Tracklist:
1. Seneca Falls 03:19
2. Midlife 03:24
3. Dance of the Atoms 04:27
4. Gustav 02:53
5. Birds 02:28
6. The Life Before 03:44
7. Fans in the Shadows 02:39
8. Gabrielle 03:52
9. Pretender 02:47
10. Rainy Wednesdays 03:47
11. Red Flag Factory 02:56