Arrival are the duo of Gordon Milson and Mark Rayner. Based in Stockport, the Mancunian town that, due to its busy underground music scene, some have dubbed the “New Berlin”, the pair are proponents of ambient. Enlisting the assistance of local guitar maestro, Kevin McCormick, they have a couple of original pieces licensed to Jason Boardman’s Before I Die.  

There are 2 mixes of One. The Underbank take is built on rhythmic human sighs and organ drone. Spotlighting McCormick’s kinda country-fied, Echoplex-ed picking. Listening I’m picturing a campfire out in the Mojave. The sonics staking their claim somewhere between Daniel Lanois and US post-rock. A Solstice version has any suggestion of a beat removed. Instead leaving the 6-string soloing soaring in twisted, tremolo’d cries. Dancing like a lone late night flame. 

Common Place sticks with the cosmic Americana. Using the drones to describe a spot slightly darker. Travelling deeper into the night. Its layers of little looped riffs and repeats making for an even more introspective moment. A score for cowboys, hobos, Easy Riders. Outsiders heavy with the weight of the world. There’s a debt here, perhaps, to Neil Young’s Dead Man soundtrack. Homegrown talent and kindred spirit Thought Leadership then introduces a more rigid, more defined beat. Adding a muted momentum of slow, slow motorik. 

Arrival’s debut EP can be ordered directly from Before I Die.