Return to Dust 2022

James Newby wished to dedicate his second disc on BIS to his sister Laura who passed away in 2015, her daughter and his mother. After singing Gerald Finzi’s ‘Fear no more the heat o’ the sun’ at her funeral, he felt it fitting that the cycle from which it is taken, Let us Garlands Bring, would form the centrepiece of the programme. Alongside this cycle, pianist Joseph Middleton and Newby have designed a programme of English songs that reflect on themes of loss, grief and death – but also joy, love and healing with varying styles, sound worlds and atmospheres.

Why they happen, and how to mitigate them

The twin polarities upon which Use Your Illusion has always derived its unique energy from are its absolute bigness and its unparallelled sense of vindictive martyrdom. This deluxe set—which doubles the length of the combined two original albums by including two full live sets—is definitely big, but without the inclusion of additional studio tracks (no demos, b-sides or outtakes) doesn't expand on the original in any meaningful way. Which means that Illusion is still trapped in its own unique 1991 amber. From its odd sequencing—which alternates between melodramatic grandiosity, midtempo sleaze, and energetic rockers built solely on bitterness and spite—to the stultifying airlessness of the recording (all of the band members cut their parts separately), Illusion still feels like an overdetermined mess that somehow manages to consistently deliver the goods though sadly, goods steeped in an aimless rage that these days reads less like anti-authoritarianism and more like toxic narcissism. This is an album that gets out a "fuck you" in its first two minutes, and devolves from there into a master class on petty beefing: Whether it's "Right Next Door To Hell," "Get In the Ring," "My World" (ugh), "Back Off Bitch" (ugggghh), or any of the other tracks where poor Axl Rose blames all of his problems on everyone else in the world, the constant airing of tiny grievances is far more deadening than the set's length. All of this made Use Your Illusion a deeply cynical yet completely sincere work.

The "difficult second album" is one of the perennial rock & roll clichés, but few second albums ever were as difficult as Use Your Illusion. Not really conceived as a double album but impossible to separate as individual works, Use Your Illusion is a shining example of a suddenly successful band getting it all wrong and letting its ambitions run wild.

The twin polarities upon which Use Your Illusion has always derived its unique energy from are its absolute bigness and its unparallelled sense of vindictive martyrdom.

Swedish progressive rock legends The Flower Kings, and longtime label-partners Inside Out Music, will begin an extensive reissue campaign in 2022, which will see the entire catalogue of the band reissued on CD & Vinyl in remastered editions, with it being the first time many of the albums have been available on wax. ‘Stardust We Are’ was the band's third studio album, and first double-album. It features the epic 25-minute title track which has since become one of the bands signature songs.

Swedish progressive rock legends The Flower Kings, and longtime label-partners Inside Out Music, will begin an extensive reissue campaign in 2022, which will see the entire catalogue of the band reissued on CD & Vinyl in remastered editions, with it being the first time many of the albums have been available on wax. ‘Stardust We Are’ was the band's third studio album, and first double-album. It features the epic 25-minute title track which has since become one of the bands signature songs.

‘Returning Tides Vol 2′ charts the solo electronic music of David Wright from 2005 to 2022. The compilation highlights the composer’s creative diversity and the evolution of his sound and style across his large body of work. Volume 1, released in 2005, charts the composer’s music from 1989-2005.

Swedish progressive rock legends The Flower Kings, and longtime label-partners Inside Out Music, will begin an extensive reissue campaign in 2022, which will see the entire catalogue of the band reissued on CD & Vinyl in remastered editions, with it being the first time many of the albums have been available on wax. ‘Stardust We Are’ was the band's third studio album, and first double-album. It features the epic 25-minute title track which has since become one of the bands signature songs.