Deadlight Dance - The Wiltshire Gothic (2024) Hi-Res

Since the launch of ‘Beyond Reverence’, their first album which was synth and drum machine they found themselves doing around half their shows in an acoustic format. As a lot of local venues like covers, the band had quickly amassed a collection of songs that were very much in their DNA, from the Cure to the Sisters of Mercy, The Cult through to The Mission and many more. So out came ‘The Wiltshire Gothic’. And, to add to the mood and tone, recorded acoustically in the old Saxon church in Alton Priors.

“We wanted to capture that side of the band.” explains Tim Emery, one half of Deadlight Dance (the other half being Nick Fletcher). “We were moving forward with the sound from the first album but this was no more or no less valid he added. It was Nick’s idea to record in the old church.

So Nick Beere, of Mooncalf studio in Chiseldon who produced their first album was able to record remotely in the church and it was on a cold Tuesday in late November that Deadlight Dance entered All Saints Church in Alton Priors to record whatever they fancied. Most songs were done in one take with no overdubs. Filmmaker Haunting the Atom was called upon again to capture the day, and a mix was completed back at Nick’s Mooncalf Studios in February 2024.

“Because of the unique instrumentation, we didn’t worry too much about staying too close to the original versions and felt we could be respectful to the original artists in how we interpreted their music,” said Nick Fletcher, singer / multi-instrumentalist. “It’s not a radical shift in direction for us; this has always been part of our sound. I would imagine we’ll follow this up with another dramatic musical tangent.”

The Wiltshire Gothic is a love letter to the songs of Deadlight Dance’s early days playing music, discovering bands and then ultimately discovering themselves, through music.