Four years in the making the new Abandon EP is finally finished. Four songs of sprawling guitar, mournful vocals, solid drums and all-pervading ambience averaging 12 mins in length, “Cower” / “Buried” / “Clapping Hands” / “Washed Ashore”. Lyrically themes of self-motivation, lost feelings, self-sabotage and primitive dreams are covered. The EP will be available from iTunes Etc in the near future.

“In the beak midwinter, frosty wind made moan”. That’s not actually a lyric from Abandon but it feels wholly appropriate. As we sit down to listen through this month’s demo pile, the UK is gripped by its coldest winter for 30 years and we’re blocked in by a foot of snow. Perfect conditions for Abandon to wreak their bleak musical carnage. In fact Abandon is another solo project from demo page regular Umair Chaudhry who seems to be making good use of the downtime at the studio he works in, and should perhaps be called Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here. Because this is no laugh-a-minute party mix. In fact we wonder if Umair actually has an icicle instead of a soul, such is the unrelenting misery of his prolific output. This demo features a mere four tracks but runs to 52 minutes, and while you have to admire its majestic misery, after a while it can feel like you’re trapped in a blizzard-bound log cabin for a week. Across a shifting landscape of spangling guitars, discreet fuzz and a mournful vocal groan, he touches bases with Flying Saucer Attack, Dead Can Dance and Swans, especially on the final track, a desolate gothic dirge. It’s all very Siberian in feel and if you’re wanting to soundtrack a country gripped by Arctic weather this is as good a choice as any. Thing is, all this was apparently four years in the making and has sat in the demo pile for a good couple of months, so perhaps it’s fate it gets reviewed right now. Thank God it didn’t turn up in June: it could have completely buggered the entire weather system.” – Nightshift Magazine

I have just finished editing the video for “Cower”. The video was shot over the snowy period in Reading UK over December and January. The backdrop perfectly fit the mood and lyrics of the song…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ8yUe4JFEA]

Visit the Abandon MySpace here.