Chadwick, Mark (The Levellers) - Ouse Dragon

"Imagine, but not so hard because it's a true and real adventure, you're visiting a small vibrant town with a river that slowly drifts through hills with buildings ancient and modern. It's been there for a very, very long time but this is your first time. All you have to navigate this place is a pair of headphones and this recording.”

So says Mark Chadwick, singer, songwriter, lyricist, activist and most commonly known as lead singer of the acclaimed Levellers, of his solo album, Ouse Dragon. It’s a dreamlike and, at times disorientating, collection of six musical pieces that inhabit a leftfield sonic world of electronic soundscapes and ambient textures. Atmospheric and ghostly, it features Mark’s story-telling vocals drawing the listener along over strummed acoustic guitars, drifting keyboards, keening noises and other-worldly instrumentation that is punctuated by bursts of percussion.

Showcasing a very different musical side to Mark from his work with Levellers, the tracks were originally performed in concert last year in Lewes, where the Ouse Dragon tales originate, both ancient and modern. He describes it as a town, “in the forgotten parts of the South of England, its more famous or infamous neighbours cast a shadow, a shadow that fades and pleads for escape when cast upon this odd corner.”

“All of the stories herein are true,” Mark explains. “Murder, abduction, mis-adventures, suicide, possession, spirits and other dimensions. Unknowable but all experienced by the writer. Enjoy the Ouse Dragon. Headphones and a quiet mind essential”.