Astrel K
ASTREL K – The Foreign Department
“But into my miserable brain, always concerned with looking for noon at two o’clock” – Charles Baudelaire (1869)
The Foreign Department is the second album by Astrel K, the solo project helmed by Stockholm-based British ex-pat, Rhys Edwards. Those already familiar with Edwards’ work will likely know him for fronting the cultishly great Ulrika Spacek, and given he operates as the principal songwriter in both projects, much of the same hallmarks of his cathartic, elliptical songwriting are present in Astrel K. Nonetheless, The Foreign Department feels like a rubicon moment of sorts, and the album that Edwards has unconsciously been working towards his entire creative life.
As a title, The Foreign Department offers an instructive guide for the listener, framing a life-in-transition/artist-in-exile document that maps two impromptu moves in twelve months for its songwriter: the first from London in pursuit of a relationship, the second between homes in Stockholm as that decade long relationship then suddenly dissolved. Indeed, diffusion, dissolution and reconstitution feel like appropriate touchstones for its recurring themes. Written amidst the flux of two states, at once isolated from home and then any established emotional anchor, the resulting eleven tracks came to represent a precognitive search for shifting identity and with it forming an unwittingly biographical record. It’s commendable and somewhat telling that during this shake up, Edwards somehow landed upon his most realised and original work.
With a former life stripped away, there emerged an opportunity to reinvent a sense of self through art, now not just as a writer, but a composer also. Developing the confidence to arrange songs in ways he’d previously considered off-limits, while also taking cues from the opulent string and brass arrangements of records like Mercury Rev’s Deserters’ Songs and Death of A Ladies Man by Leonard Cohen, Edwards enlisted a range of performers to bring to life the mini-symphonies forming in his head. Perhaps it’s inevitable that an album written while facing the consequences of being alone would eventually ossify around the process of bringing people together.
For all its troubled origins, The Foreign Department is a remarkably warm sounding collection. Edwards’ lyrics are typically knotty and neurotic, dancing around the poetry of quarter-life anxiety, but the music itself is often joyous and even uplifting, the combination expressing that neat duality of melancholic euphoria. Edwards sings variously of crises, “torrid pieces of art”, of “houses on fire” and not “having the guts for it”, yet these troubling sentiments are framed by seemingly incongruous swelling strings, chirping horns or motorik percussion, creating that sense of pushing forward or floating above, of wrapping your troubles in dreams, a salve for the moments when you get a bit too much for yourself.
Lead single, ‘Darkness At Noon’, likely captures this all best. Named for the French idiom “midi a quatorze heures”, the maddening idea of attempting the impossible for the sake of some greater possibly pointless cause, it directly grapples with the opposing notions of wanting and not wanting, of being here and being there at the same time. The conflicting and impossible self. It’s something Edwards addresses in the song at perhaps his most open, opining, “I know I want to be seen, but I hate most of what comes out of me”. And yet here is, putting it all out in the open and on the line, the dialectics of his enlightenment up on show.
More Events
Explore The Neighbourhood
Afternoon Tease: Burlesque and Afternoon Tea
Burlesque and Afternoon Tea what a treat!!! Prepare for 90mins of Afternoon Tea with burlesque performances from Remy Brandee and Mrs Nooverall. Plus some special shinannygins…
Learn MoreMyra DuBois: Be Well
With her passion for compassion and flair for giving care, the “bust-a-gut funny” (Graham Norton) Myra DuBois calls out to the disadvantaged, downtrodden and tyrannised of…
Learn MoreFeatherstone Main Brass Band – Canal Gardens, Roundhay Park
Featherstone Main Brass Band perform a free programme of brass band favourites at Canal Gardens, Roundhay Park on Sunday 26 May, 2.30pm – 4.30pm. This…
Learn MoreBamboozle: Original Americana
Bamboozle is a high-energy fusion of old and new, drawing on the rich heritage of rock ‘n’ roll while forging a path forward into unchartered musical…
Learn MoreThe Hanging Star
On A Golden Shore arrives as The Hanging Stars reflect on a year of triumphs. With an Americana Music Association Bob Harris – sanctioned award…
Learn MoreMade With Music Mixed Ages Headingley
A 5 week music course for babies and children and their parents/carers running from 4th June to 2nd July inclusive. Our mixed age classes have…
Learn MoreThe Barn Coffee Shop
One of the inspirations behind Acoustic Nights @ The Barn in Meanwood, Leeds is to introduce high-quality music reaching out to the local lively community.…
Learn MoreCafe Yoga Horsforth
Cafe Yoga – a boutique yoga studio, cafe and event space. A slice of sanctuary in the heart of Horsforth.
Learn MoreThe Nightingale
Quality drinks at affordable, sensible prices! A multi-screen venue with surround sound showing live sports everyday, live entertainment and live music evenings on the way.…
Learn MoreThe Duck Egg Bakery & Tea Room
The Duck Egg Bakery & Tea Room is a warm and welcoming tea room in Normanton. Serving quality home baked cakes and light bites, you…
Learn MoreAmity Brew Co
Amity Brew Co is a beautiful craft brewpub based in Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley, Leeds. We make fresh, modern interpretations of classic craft beer…
Learn MoreJoys Coffee House
Joys Coffee House in Wakefield, is a cosy coffee house, serving barista coffee, breakfast, brunch, lunch and many delicious treats! Enjoy afternoon tea with your…
Learn MoreAge UK Leeds
Age UK Leeds is an independent charity working in Leeds to offer support and services to older people.
Learn MoreOld Printworks
The Old Printworks is a family run pub/bar which is located in the heart of Wakefield, specializing in real ale.
Learn MoreSeacroft Community Hub and Library
Leeds City Council Customer Services, Library, Jobshop & Community Space are all located in this same building. We provide free computer access with MS office…
Learn MoreVelvet
We do the drinks. You bring the party. Once up on a time in a merrie city called Wakefield there once was a bar called…
Learn MoreThorner Victory Hall
Welcome to Thorner Victory Hall – Home of the famous comedy and beer festivals, space for community groups, live music events, weddings, parties… and much,…
Learn MoreThe Polka Hop
The Polka Hop is a family and dog friendly, music loving, real ale pub near the heart of Wakefield. We sell premium real ales, top…
Learn MoreOld Printworks
The Old Printworks is a family run pub/bar which is located in the heart of Wakefield, specializing in real ale.
Learn MoreThe Grove Centre
The Grove (as we usually call it) is located in the centre of Horsforth set just back from Town Street. For the past 150 years…
Learn MoreFeatherstone War Horse
In 2018 the year that marked the centenary of the end of the First World War, a new memorial sculpture was unveiled in Featherstone, West…
Learn MoreSt Chads Parish Centre, Headingley
Our church’s Parish Centre is a thriving and hugely popular venue, surrounded by green space, mature trees and the local cricket ground. Built in the…
Learn MoreAudiozone
Audiozone is Wakefield’s music hub for band rehearsal rooms, art, media and music event production in the heart of the community.
Learn MoreBar Biccari
Bar Biccari is an authentic Italian restaurant set in the heart of Horbury, who bake all their bread and cook their pizzas in their on…
Learn More