Gordon Chapman-Fox’s Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan (WRNTDP) project sees a bold visual aesthetic and striking retro-futuristic audio identity seamlessly melded together into one evocative musical package. Over six albums and three EPs, Chapman-Fox impeccably soundtracks the construction and growth of a northern English community from the mid 1970’s to early 1980’s, rendered in shimmering arpeggios and soaring, euphoric leads. This truly is “music for a broken concrete utopia”.
Having been embraced by both the mainstream media (BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6, RTE) and niche publications alike, as well as hitting both the UK album charts and multiple end of year lists (Piccadilly Records, Bleep, Electronic Sound), it’s clear that there is no end of appreciation for the impeccably produced, immersive drift of Warrington-Runcorn’s sound.
While all of the entries in his canon have garnered significant praise, it was 2023’s ‘The Nation’s Most Central Location’ that really put Warrington-Runcorn on the map with Electronic Sound naming it ‘Album Of The Year’ and Rough Trade dropping it at no.13 in their list, as well as netting Chapman-Fox a repeat appearance at End Of The Road Festival in both 2022 and 2024.
Though the strong visual aesthetic and impeccable world building is a strong part of Warrington-Runcorn’s presentation, it would be nothing without the effortlessly evocative music that lies at the core of his essence. Bristling synth lines that puncture the air, rumbling basses and chord swells that you feel right to the spine, with rhythmic arps and snapping delays effortlessly taking the role of most of the traditional percussive elements.
Where do we go from here? With WRNTDP’s sound making graceful stretches outwards into folky minimalism, shimmering IDM and languid ambient there is no way to tell for sure, but it’s a guarantee that wherever it may go, Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan’s Music is perfect for soundtracking the building of a new world, or the ending of an old one.
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan has announced a number of live performances for next year, and one of these is to take place here in Sussex. The venue of choice being Lewes Con Club and the date will be Friday 23rd April 2027. This event is being promoted by Love Thy Neighbour and tickets are on sale from HERE and HERE.
Reviews:
“Modern industrialized society is filled with ghosts. Chapman-Fox has found some of them and given them a voice. The results are dramatic and chilling, lasting long after the record ends.” – Bandcamp Daily
“A potentially overwhelming experience for anyone ever separated from their mum in a crumbling multi-storey car park” – Electronic Sound
“An on-boarding seminar for a distant time and place, when specks on the map of England had enormous cooling towers on their horizons” – Bleep
“An eerie, beautifully crafted vision of a future that never was.” – Kickingmachine
“The ‘Britishness’ audio-visual presentation this evening makes one yearn for a bygone age….we are given instrumental music which is in the same mould as Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre and even a slight nod to Kraftwerk.” – Brighton & Hove News
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan further reading:
The journey began with the launch of ‘Interim Report, March 1979’, which despite its title is a long player record that hit the unsuspecting world on 26th February 2021, and was Gordon’s hymn and homage to the brutalist beauty of Cheshire’s designated new towns of Warrington and Runcorn. On 3rd September the same year, the ‘People And Industry’ album carried the same message and picked up where the first left off, really. Musically it was recorded back to back with ‘Interim Report, March 1979’ and there is a progression in the sound, but it’s definitely cut from the same cloth as the first album. It still very much exists in this euphoric melancholy. Third instalment ‘Districts, Roads, Open Space’ followed on 10th October 2022, with the music reflecting the social isolation of New Towns life. This was mirrored by its creation through two years of pandemic lockdown.
The campaign continued with the release of ‘The Nation’s Most Central Location’, album on 19th May 2023, and the 4 tune ‘Building A New Town’ EP on 25th August 2023. The following year witnessed the 7 tune ‘Your Community Hub’ album dropping on 24th May 2024, with lead single ‘A Shared Sense of Purpose’ having already seen the light of day two weeks earlier. Then last year came the 4 track ‘Overspill Estates’ EP on 11th April, followed by ‘Public Works and Utilities’ on 10th October.
This now brings us right up to date with the forthcoming seventh album, ‘Industrial Growth’ set to drop on 30th October. The majority of the album is part of a suite that was commissioned by Roadburn Festival for the 2024 outing in Tilburg, Netherlands.
