welcome

And thank you for stumbling across my site.

If you're here, you’re probably already familiar with at least one of my musical projects. Perhaps you already know my shoegaze/dream-pop songs, released as Daniel Land, or with my previous band, Daniel Land & The Modern Painters. Or maybe you know the atmospheric landscape music I release under the name riverrun. You’ll find information about all of these things here. 

While you're here, make sure to sign up to my mailing list to receive a free song from my archives, or follow the link to my store. And thanks for stopping by! 

 


News

2024 UK Tour — Part 1 

Hello everyone

I'm happy to announce that tickets for our Spring 2024 UK tour are now on sale. 

We're playing in the South West (Tiverton), the South East (London), the East (Norfolk), and the North West (Manchester). 

At these shows I will be joined by my live band, including our new drummer:

  • Gary Bruce: guitars
  • Rob Sykes: bass
  • Brin Coleman: keyboards and vocals
  • Chris Thorpe: drums

And of course, me, playing guitar and singing. Our full-band set will be bookended by some quiet solo numbers where I'll take requests, dip into old favourites, and road-test some new songs from my almost-completed next album.

Tickets for all shows* available here at my website

*The show at Holt Vinyl Vault in Norfolk is a special in-store performance for Record Store Day. This will be a full-band performance of around 45 minutes, with an early start time of 4pm, followed by a signing session and refreshments. The event is un-ticketed. 

Hope to see you there! And stay tuned for news of Part 2 of our tour, later in the year — hopefully visiting points further north including Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen…

Daniel 
 

The Inspiration of Derek Jarman 

Derek Jarman, visionary filmmaker, artist, writer, activist, my hero, died 30 years ago this week.

I first heard about Derek Jarman through the work of Brian Eno. One of the first albums I bought when I started listening to Eno in the mid-1990s was his soundtrack for Jarman's last film, which was subsequently reworked by Jah Wobble and released as the underwhelming Spinner. That last film of Jarman's was Glitterbug a great, mischievous title — and was a compilation of his Super-8 films from the 1970s and 1980s. He never saw it finished. 

Jarman is primarily known as a film-maker, but if I'm honest I'm not that big a fan of his films. 

Blue is, of course, a defining work, and his Super-8 film work had an obvious influence on the promotional videos I've made for Out of Season. 

His film Wittgenstein, shot against a black backdrop, within which the actors and key props are placed (theatre-style) is an example of budgetary constraints working to artistic advantage — proof of Brian Eno's dictum that “If you want to get unusual results, work fast and work cheap, because there's more of a chance that you'll get somewhere that nobody else did. Nearly always, the effect of spending a lot of money is to make things more normal”. 

You could never accuse Wittgenstein of looking “normal”:

But it's his writing that speaks to me the most. Anyone reading him must feel the same incredible sense of intimacy with the voice speaking there. You want to reach out to him; he’s so vulnerable, and courageous, so unfairly vilified. You want to call him Derek.

In 1986, shortly after his HIV diagnosis, he bought Prospect Cottage, a fisherman’s shack in the shadow of Dungeness nuclear power station. In Modern Nature, my favourite book of his the only book I’ve read ten times he intertwines reflections on his creation of a garden at the cottage, with musings on health, creativity, and mortality. 

Dungeness Britain's sole desert — is about as unlikely a habitat for a botanist as you can imagine. It is a microclimate of extremes, marked by drought, fierce winds, and corrosive sea-salt, which frequently damaged his plants. 

But amidst this rocky expanse, overshadowed by the looming nuclear facility, Jarman dug deep into the shingle and crafted an unlikely sculptural garden out of hardy flaura and various bits of repurposed flotsam that he found washed up on the Ness’s shoreline.

 

Modern Nature invites you to look closer at the landscape, the same way that Derek who had initially dismissed the area as barren — had only started to notice the unexpected abundance of flora and fauna that Dungeness supported after he had moved in. 

The language he uses in Modern Nature guides you into this closer inspection — and seems, somehow, to breathe life into the landscape, transforming what might appear desolate or inhospitable into a kind of paradise teeming with life.

Derek's descriptions are not merely factual, but are imbued with a poetic resonance, dancing with the rhythm of the seasons, and capturing the ephemeral beauty of blooming flowers, the delicate flutter of butterflies, and the ever-changing hues of the sky. 

The book brimms with lists of flora: purple iris, borage, houseleeks, sedums, horned poppy, sea kale, dianthus, saxifrage, forget-me-nots, sempervivum, clove-scented gillyflowers, bluebells, calendula, santolina, mullein, viper’s bugloss... 

I barely know what half of these things are, if I'm honest, and I don't care; the litany of beautiful names is enough. Modern Nature is a kind of ambient book (back to Eno again, as always); you don't read it for horizonal movement, for plot, or development you read it for the mood it creates; you read it to immerse yourself in that world, for a while. 

Tuesday 7
        The rain and fine warm weather have quickened the landscape — brought the saturated spring colours early. The dead of winter is passed. Today Dungeness glowed under a pewter sky — shimmering emeralds, arsenic, sap, sage and verdigris greens washed bright, moss in little islands set off against pink pebbles, glowing yellow banks of gorse, the deep russet of dead  bracken, and pale ochre of reeds in clumps set against the willow spinney; a deep burgundy, with silvery catkins and fans of ochre yellow stamens fringed with the slightest hint of lime green  of newly burst leaves. 
        This symphony of colour I have seen in no other landscape. Dungeness is a premonition of the far North, a landscape Southerners might think dreary and monotonous, which sings like the birch woods in Sibelius' music…

Monday 28
        Eno's “On Land” is the music of my view: a crescent moon under a dog star, clouds scudding in the grey dawn.

It’s a beautiful read; buy it now, if you haven’t read it you’ll thank me later.

Of course, beyond his contributions to the arts, Derek was an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and HIV/AIDS awareness, and Modern Nature, as well as being beautifully written, also fizzes with anger. 

Derek was enraged by the discrimination surrounding HIV, the suppression of information about the epidemic, and the inadequate research and funding that went into tackling the spread of the virus. He used his platform both to raise awareness about the AIDS crisis and to combat homophobia; his advocacy helped to destigmatize the virus and played a crucial role in shaping public perception and policy responses to the epidemic. 

Mixed in with all of this is a sense of frustration with England, and a yearning to return to a more expansive, more diverse, less jingoistic idea of what England — then in the throes of the Thatcher Revolution — could be. Like many, Jarman abhored the New Right's combination of ultra-liberal economics, with extremely restrictive morality, and felt that the emergence of AIDS had normalized levels of homophobia not witnessed since the 1950s. 

And yet despite this (or perhaps because of it) he retained a deep, unwavering, almost idealistic love for England — albeit a kind of love clouded with disappointment and criticism.

His mixed feelings about England come across in Modern Nature, and the films he was making around this time (The Last of England and The Garden) — the same strand of thinking in Derek's work that I was drawing from when I was making my recent album, Out of Season.

As one of the first genuinely famous people to come out as HIV positive, he was a regular target for tabloid ire, grimly noted in Modern Nature, and reflected in his later paintings — but throughout, he remained charismatic, humorous, and brimming with mischief. Here he is, dealing with a photographer from The Sun, in 1989:

A letter from the Folkestone Herald alerted me: the Sun wanted to buy their photos of me. 
        Meanwhile the lawyers' letter to the People and the Mirror have produced an apology and a correct reporting of my HIV status under the headline 'Del's Not Dying'…
        A motorbike draws up and a hapless reporter from the Sun clambers off. This is his third trip down here from London. 
        "Do you mind if I photo you?"
        "Yes, but since one way or another you're going to, we might as well do a good job of it" […]
        I fix him with a basilisk stare as he clicks away.
        "You look uncomfortable", he remarks.
        "Not as much as you should".
        "Oh?"
        "I'm writing a diary, which I'm publishing. You're today's entry. When all is said and done what I choose to write will, I expect, be the only trace of your life. Your memory is in my hands".
        Long silence.
        “The Sun's not kept by the British Museum; the paper destroys itself, it's so acid. When you get back, tell your editor to read the retraction in the People. Because the next time I'm going a million...”

In his later years, he said he had two aims: to outlive the Thatcher government, and to survive AIDS. He achieved only one of those, of course; effective treatments for AIDS came along two years after he died. 

I can only imagine what he would have created, had he survived, or what he would have thought of the last 30 years; what he would have thought of gay marriage; whether he would have thought it remarkable that HIV was survivable; what he would have thought of things like Brexit. He was a complicated man, with counterintuitive feelings about things; his opinions may well have surprised us.

Filmmaker; writer; poet; designer; gardener; painter; sculptor... he transcends the boundaries of medium, and reminds me that it's not dexterity nor technical skill that makes an artist, it's the sensibility.

UK Shows + New Videos + "Out of Season" Vinyl Release 

Hello everybody — and happy new year to you!

Today marks the official release date of the vinyl version of Out of Season

I’m incredibly happy with how the campaign has gone — the album has gone into distribution in the UK, China, and possibly (soon) the USA. It's outsold any other record I've made, and is actually in danger of selling out of it's physical edition. That's so crazy to me! 

A million thanks to anyone who bought the album, streamed it, joined my mailing list, or contacted me with kind words over the last few months.

Right now, there are around 60 copies of Out of Season in each format at my Bandcamp page — but if you want one, especially one of the Deluxe packages, I wouldn't hesitate.  At the time of writing, there are only 4 Deluxe LP versions of the album, and 9 Deluxe CDs left. 

Purchase Here

I’ve also got a few live shows planned for next year. I’m bringing my full band to Manchester and London for shows on 21 April and 22 April respectively — you can buy tickets for either of those shows here.

There will be other shows announced soon!

Also, this morning, I've released a new music video for the single (and album track) “Alison”, which you can view at my YouTube channel

I’d recommend following me there, as in the next few months I’ll be releasing a bunch of new things. Just today, for example, I’ve also released the first of a series of track-by-track explainer videos, talking about the background to Out of Season tracks, and the rest will be available soon. 

And in the coming weeks I'll be releasing three more music videos, a bunch of in-studio/making of clips, and a handful of visualiser videos accompanying some of the Alan Lidden “Deep Drone” ambient remixes of the album’s tracks!

Thanks to anyone who reads this; hope to see some of you at our gigs in 2024.

All the best 

Daniel

"Another Year Older" Music Video + Bandcamp Friday 

Hello everyone!

Just this morning I've released the second music video from Out of Season. The video is for the track "Another Year Older", which you can view here: 

In line with the themes of the track, there are various embarrassing photos of me through the ages, which might raise a smile. The blonde Mohican look, circa 2003, has to be seen to be believed...

There's been some nice coverage of the album including this from Fame Magazine who call Out of Season a "Magnum Opus" and say that I'm a "Pioneer, utilizing shoegaze’s sonic palette to embark on an outward-looking exploration of memory, identity, and desire" (wow!)

Today is Bandcamp Friday, so time to hawk my wares again. If you still want to pick up a copy of the album, it's the best day, as Bandcamp waive all of their selling fees.

I've added some merch bundles to my shop, where you can purchase Out of Season along with its predecessor album The Dream of the Red Sails for a discounted price (which might be up to £10 savings for people who have to pay for overseas postage).

Plus, I've also added some limited items including one of the Out of Season test pressings, and souvenirs from the creation of the album — the track-sheets I use to keep a record of what instruments have been recorded. Everything is available for immediate dispatch.

Wishing you all the best for the festive season.

Love,

Daniel
 

"Out of Season" released today on CD and download! 

Hello everyone

I'm delighted to announce that my new album, Out of Season, has been released this morning on CD and download!

It is available to purchase on those formats, or on limited edition Deep Sea Green vinyl*, at my Bandcamp store.

Deluxe editions of the album feature an album-length bonus CD, Island of Ghosts, featuring eight beautiful ambient remixes of Out of Season tracks.

At the time of writing there are only 15 of these left (of the initial run of 100) in each format, so don't hang around if you want one!

Thank you so much to everyone who purchased a copy of the album already, or who have sent me messages of support in the past few weeks. It means the world.

All the best

Daniel

*The official vinyl release date is 26 January, 2024, but I will be dispatching any pre-orders from December 1st.
 


 

'Out of Season' — My New Album 

Hello everyone!

The long wait is over! My new album, Out of Season, is finally available to pre-order on CD, or limited Deep Sea Green LP, with bonus items including album-length ambient remix EP. 

You can pre-order it at the following link, ahead of the release date of 3 November.

Out of Season is an album about history, memory, and nostalgia.

I started writing it in late 2018, and put it together over the next two or three years — both in London, and in a makeshift studio in a caravan on the West Somerset coast. During this time, UK was tearing itself apart over its relationship to Europe.

This is not a political album — I have a kind of horror of overtly political music. But like anyone in the UK, I couldn't escape the atmosphere of that time. In particular, the exaggerated and distorted idea of “Englishness”, deep in the national psyche (what the Guardian writer John Harris calls “a set of terms and contradictions about our past”), seemed to illustrate the dangers of nostalgia, or rather the dangers of taking seductive — and possibly false — memories at face value.

Out of Season is about lots of things — my classic “themes” are memory and desire, and there's still plenty of that here. But the album is also a series of attempts to reclaim an older, more peculiar, and more diverse idea of England, which seemed to have been lost recently — the island of misfits and outsiders exemplified by the writings of Derek Jarman, for example, who I was re-reading when I was working on the album.

Derek Jarman had a deep, abiding love for England, but it was a very complicated, critical and queer kind of love — this was very much my mood, when making of this album.

Out of Season is also a love letter to the west coast of Somerset, a place of rugged, strange beauty that I had adored when I was growing up, but hadn't visited for around twenty years.

Starting in 2019, I've been spending increasing amounts of time there, and much of the work of taking Out of Season over the finishing line happened there too, including the shooting of three upcoming videos for “Idlewild”, "White Chalk", and “Southern Soul”.

I wanted artwork that reflected the look of this area, and I found it in the most fitting of places — in the paintings of my high school art teacher, Katy Barrell.

I'd wanted to collaborate with Katy since I was a student of hers in mid-1990s, and with this album I was finally able to do so. Katy's beautiful, semi-abstract landscapes grace the covers of both Out of Season, and the bonus EP, Island of Ghosts.

I've put a lot of care and attention into this release, and I'm delighted (and, I admit, a little nervous) to share it with the world! I hope you like it too.

Daniel

__________________________________________________

 

Out of Season — 3 November 2023

1. Alison
2. White Chalk
3. Lemon Boy
4. Island of Ghosts
5. Another Year Older
6. Southern Soul
7. Out of Season
8. Idlewild
9. Put Your Broken Arrows Down
10. Summerhome by the Sea
11. Wolf Moon
 

New Album - More Studio Footage! 

Hello everyone!

I'm delighted to share a preview of another track from my upcoming album. 

This is an instrumental snippet of what will be the title track. It's another of the more upbeat tracks on the album, but with a much darker feel than some of the other tracks — and one of the most unusual chord sequences I've come up with. 

Sign up to my mailing list at https://danielland.co.uk/ to be among the first to hear when the album is available to order. 

People on my list will have early bird access to album pre-orders, including a discounted price, and first refusal on some bonus items that may not available elsewhere. 

You'll receive a free download of my recent single "Wolf Moon", and you can leave the mailing list at any time with one click.

Thanks as always to anyone who sees this..

Daniel x

Another Studio Clip 

Hello, lovely people!

Here's a preview of another track from my upcoming album. Like the last one, it's of the more upbeat tracks on the album, perhaps to counteract the impression given by the two singles I've released so far ('White Chalk' and ‘Wolf Moon’), which were verrrry slow!

Also just to say that anyone on my mailing list will have early bird access to album pre-orders, including a discounted price, and some bonus items not available elsewhere. So, sign up to my mailing list here to be among the first to hear when the album is available to order.

All the best

Daniel

New Album of Songs - Studio Clips 

Hello everyone

As I gear up for the release of a new album of songs, I'm sharing various clips from the creation of the record on my YouTube channel, and my Facebook and Instagram profiles.

First up is this studio clip from the recording of the bass line of the album's opening songs. It's one of the more upbeat tracks on the album.

People on my mailing list will have early bird access to album pre-orders including a discounted price and some bonus items not available elsewhere. So, make sure to sign up to my mailing list here to be among the first to hear when the album is available to order.

Looking forward!

Daniel

 

Live shows playing guitar in Darkher 

Hello everyone

There'll be news on my next album very, very soon, but in the meantime, just a quick update to say that after a decade-long gap I'm working with Darkher again, playing guitar in various upcoming shows!

I've contributed a little bit of guitar and some backing vocals to all the Darkher records, but this is the first time in a decade since I've done any real shows with Jayn, since my time in her previous band, The Steals.

Folks in the Manchester area might be interested in our next show, at Todmorden Unitarian Church on Saturday 26 August. Tickets here if anyone fancies it

FYI Todmorden is an easy journey from Manchester Victoria, and the venue is 5 mins walk from the station. I'll post details of other shows as and when I know what they are!

All the best

Daniel

 

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Local man Daniel Land brings his five-piece live band to Tiverton for the first time in over 8 years, warming up for his UK tour supporting his new album "Out of Season". This will be a full-length, full band headline show with an additional short DL solo set at the beginning. Support TBC.

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Daniel Land brings his five-piece live band to Holt Vinyl Vault on Saturday 20 April, for a special in-store performance celebrating Record Store Day.

Daniel and his band will be playing a set of approximately 45 minutes, followed by a signing session where Daniel will be selling copies of his critically acclaimed new album, "Out of Season".

This will be a non-ticketed event, and we can only encourage those who are keen to get there in good time, whilst recognising that Holt Vinyl Vault will still be functioning as a record shop, and looking to shift as much vinyl as possible before 4pm.

Free drinks will be available for those who stay on for the signing session.

Entrance is FREE. However, please note the early start time of 4pm!

Hope to see you there!

Daniel Land brings his five-piece live band to Manchester for the first time in five years, supporting his new album "Out of Season". This will be a full-length, full band headline show with an additional short DL solo set at the beginning. Support TBC.

In cart Not available Out of stock
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