Dream pop duo Ummagma unveil a sublime new shadowy and enveloping reworking of their track ‘Back to You’ by maverick electronic producer Dean Garcia, famed as half of seminal British indie/alt-rock band Curve with iconic vocalist Toni Halliday and half of SPC ECO with Rose Berlin.

This is one of two Ummagma tracks that Dean Garcia has re-envisioned for the band’s forthcoming ‘LCD’ EP, which follows up the ‘Winter Tale’ maxi-single with 4AD dreampop pioneer A.R.Kane, released earlier this year.

This comes hot on the heels of Ummagma ‘Lama’ remix, created by Cocteau Twins multi-instrumentalist Robin Guthrie, which Clash Magazine premiered, commending its “soaring melodies and swathes of sound… a gorgeous piece with near orchestral reach”. The accompanying video debuted in the respected Scottish publication The Skinny.

Ummagma is Shauna McLarnon, hailing from Canada, and Alexander Kretov, originally from Ukraine. Now based in Canada, Ummagma won the Alternative Eurovision on Amazing Radio, representing Ukraine among 23 countries.

Dean Garcia is renowned for sculpting sound to create alternate-universe pop hits that simultaneously straddle several genres. Apart from 15 years with Curve and a decade with SPC ECO, Garcia has also toured the world several times and recorded multiple albums with such established artists as Eurythmics, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Bryan Ferry, Sinead O’Connor and Ian Dury.

“When listening to the original versions of these two songs, I wanted to make something that was an extension of the psyche n space mood that to me is the heart n soul of Ummagma,” explains Dean Garcia.

“With the ‘LCD’ mix it was a matter of going into the original stems and extracting the most trippy n spacey elements and expanding them into a different zone. ‘Back To You’ was more about enhancing the mood of the song as it stood, but with view to bring out its dark and foreboding nature. I enjoyed working on both mixes for different reasons, the sense of space and oddness within both mixes is the thing that glues it all together. File under Dark Psyche”

This collaboration between Ummagma and Dean Garcia is timely as, on August 25, Curve will marking their 25th anniversary by reissuing their first two albums – ‘Doppelgänger’ and ‘Cuckoo’ – as two-CD deluxe expanded editions. SPC ECO is also marking 10 years together.

Ummagma ‘LCD’ will be released on September 22 – on cassette, CD and digitally – via Label Obscura and Somewherecold Records, and is already available for pre-order on the duo’s own Bandcamp at http://ummagma.bandcamp.com

SELECT PRESS
“New EP ‘LCD’ explores otherworldly climes, matching heavenly vocals to arrangements as complex as they are hopelessly beautiful. Lead cut ‘Lama’ is the perfect introductory point, with its soaring melodies and swathes of sound… a gorgeous piece with near orchestral reach” – Clash Music

Full kaleidoscope of sounds, harmonies and musical instruments… the result is massive with an intricate fabric – Rolling Stone

“Guthrie’s remix is a perfect slice of laid-back dream-pop, and McLarnon’s vocals seem to float over its woozy instrumentation” – The Skinny

Ethereal pop indebted to Cocteau Twins and much of the rest of 4AD’s ’80s output – BrooklynVegan