‘A Shared Sense Of Purpose’ is Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan’s new single. A Vince Clarke remix is also out now. This drop is ahead of their upcoming, fifth album ‘Your Community Hub,’ out May 24 via Castles In Space.
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan is the one-man retro-futurist electronic project of Gordon Chapman-Fox.
The new single is out now on all digital platforms, as well as limited edition 7” and 12” vinyl formats. These all include an elegiac remix by Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure legend Vince Clarke.
Gordon comments on Vince Clarke’s work, “He’s been a delight to work with. as the original new town synthesist, I hope he gets it musically and conceptually.”
The single is taken from the soon to be released album ‘Your Community Hub,’ which is inspired by the community centres in Warrington and Runcorn, designed to provide all the facilities people needed close to their homes, predating the concept of 15-minute cities by years.
Gordon is known for making music inspired by niche ideas such as his last EP ‘Building A New Town’ which represented a step back to the early 70s. The next album moves more towards the 1980’s with elements of synth-pop creeping into the tangerine dreamscapes.
On the albums theme Gorden explains, “Runcorn was actually designed to be a five-minute city. Each community centre was a short walk from anyone’s front door. The community hubs would have everything you could possibly need in the 1970s – a GP, a bank, a Post Office, a pub, a corner shop, a laundrette, a bus stop and more. It wasn’t just about convenience, it was also designed to minimise car journeys to help with maintaining clean, breathable air.”
Overtime, as they have been undermined and eroded by successive governments, there has been a decline not just in these community centres but also in the services themselves.
“I guess all of these things are somehow seen as contentious topics in 2024, because any form of government assistance in people’s lives is seen as totalitarian state control by the more deranged and vocal part of our political and journalistic class,” says Gordon, warming to the political themes that underpin the new album.
He continues “When Thatcher said there was ‘no such thing as society’ it was a colossal sea change and we’ve seen the logical conclusion of that in the pandemic. Despite all the press conferences and reassurances, the message from Boris Johnson and co. could not have been more clear: ‘Fuck you, you’re on your own’.”
Your Community Hub tracklisting:
- A Shared Sense Of Purpose
- Rapid Transport Links
- Cul-de-Sac
- Summer All Year Round
- Facilities For All Ages
- Pedestrian Shopping Deck
- A New Town With An Old Sense Of Community
See Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan live:
May 30 – Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s
May 31 – Glasgow – Broadcast
September 13 – Helsinki – G Livelab
October 5 – Bedford – Levitation ’24
For more: https://warringtonruncorn.com/
For live info: https://warringtonruncorn.com/live/
