The fourth Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan album, The Nation’s Most Central Location, sees Gordon Chapman-Fox explore the north-south divide and reflect on 40 years of broken ‘levelling up’ promises.
With eight tracks across 40 minutes, the album offers Gordon’s usual mix of mournful remorse and upbeat optimism. Gordon has now added an underlying anger that burns through on tracks such as London’s Moving Our Way and A Brighter And More Prosperous Future.
Gordon says, “When I was a child, the future seemed exciting. Now I’m an adult, the future seems terrifying. And I would like to return to when the future seemed optimistic. I’m nostalgic for an optimistic future.
“Lost futures and lost opportunities are at the heart of my music. Busway is a bittersweet euphoric track that I’ve been finishing my live shows with, and it always makes me emotional. It’s odd to write an emotional piece of music about a bus lane, but it all feeds into the central idea that these things were opportunities to improve our lives that were squandered.”
REVIEWS
“The carefully contrived atmosphere is of both optimism and dread. 8/10”
Uncut
“A dark wedge of foreboding ambience, a rumble of incessant synth traffic.”
Electronic Sound
“‘The Nation’s Most Central Location’ is his ‘Network’ moment. This is Gordon Chapman-Fox. He’s mad as hell. And he does it brilliantly.”
Moonbuilding