the telescopes: hidden fields

Founded in 1987 by Stephen Lawrie, The Telescopes have been mining a unique anti-myopic seam of highly influential experimental, drone, noise, dream, and psych ever since. Their first record was a split flexi-disc with Loop on Cheree Records. After a two more critically acclaimed singles for the label, they moved to What Goes On Records, with which they released another two EPs and their 1989 debut album, Taste, all of which found their way to the top of the UK independent charts. Tours followed with Spacemen 3, Primal Scream, and The Jesus and Mary Chain, and it wasn't long before The Telescopes were headliners themselves; Bark Psychosis, Whipping Boy, Slowdive, Bleach, The Cranes, and Ride all played some of their earlier shows supporting them. In 1990 the group appeared at one of the UK's biggest festivals of the time, Reading Festival, where they were one of the few bands that wasn't bottled off the stage. However, the increasing violent interactions with audiences at their shows saw the group step away from their noise origins and head toward a more introspective, psychedelic sound. It was around this time that What Goes On folded and Alan McGee stepped in to release the group's material on his Creation Records. The group released their second album and a string of EPs for the label, working with Douglas Hart (The Jesus and Mary Chain) on their videos, visual artist Paul Cannel on their sleeve work and Laika's Guy Fixsen in the studio. In 1992, the group began an eight-year hiatus, resuming output in the year 2000 with a revolving lineup and a stream of well-received releases. In 2011 Portishead invited The Telescopes to play at the first ever ATP festival at Alexandre Palace in London, and the following year The Black Angels and Reverberation Appreciation Society invited them to Austin Psych Fest. Following the 2013 release of their seventh LP, Harm, on Seattle-based label Neon Sigh, the group toured almost non-stop over the following two years, covering Scandinavia, Europe, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, the Ukraine, the UK, USA, the Middle East, and Ireland. Hidden Fields, The Telescopes' eighth album, is an unexpected return from the group's recent expeditions into the outer reaches of free-drone noise -- the psychiatric sounds of The Telescopes in a concise inner sensory rush, and their most song-based output in some time. Recorded in Glasgow with St Deluxe.