“'My Fantoms' is a record of heart-melting beauty. With a collection of 60s and 70s analogue sounds, textile synths and carpeted spongey drum machines, Hong Kong in The 60s present their vision of song, reminding us of forgotten sounds like The Passage, Young Marble Giants and Robert Wyatt, as well as the debt we all owe gentle pop. The melodies are sung with the perfect balance of honesty and control... the control is so welcome. This record is with me a lot. It’s fresh, new but familiar. I love this."
Sean O'Hagan - The High Llamas
'My Fantoms' is the debut album by Hong Kong In The 60s, released 2nd May 2011 through Proper Songs. Influenced by early electronic pop, 1960s Chinese music and European film soundtracks, the 12 tracks include bittersweet pop songs, dreamlike instrumentals and even excerpts from a mouse opera for children.
Tracknotes:
1. When You Were Dreaming. A song of romantic frustration musically inspired, in equal parts, by droning Teutonic rock and swooning Oriental pop.
2. You Can Take A Heart But You Cannot Make It Beat. Our updating of the feather-light Brazilian-inflected sounds of ‘60s and ‘70s sunshine pop.
3. Les Petits Chasseurs De Son. Part two of our long-term mouse opera project. This instrumental - featuring the sounds of a malfunctioning Casio CZ-101 - introduces a band of fantastical sound-hunting rodents, inspired by the real life Fédération Internationale des Chasseurs de Sons.
4. Softly Sung. An ethereal lullaby of regret, backed by a Mellotron- and Casio-tooled take on Julee Cruise and David Lynch’s ‘50s fantasies.
5. My Fantoms. Named in tribute to Théophile Gauthier and his translator Richard Holmes, this title track is rooted musically in the softest and synthiest of ‘70s MOR. The lyrics explore the heedless self-deception of love.
6. Theme From King Of Chinatown. From the soundtrack to an imaginary late 1980s Hong Kong action movie set in London's Chinatown, full of honourable bloodshed and mawkish sentiment.
7. Diaryland. A motorik pop song for synth and drum machine, detailing a private childhood dreamworld.
8. All At Sea. What we imagine The Velvet Underground might have sounded like had they been forced to perform as a lounge band on a cruise ship.
9. Cobb's Box. An unearthly mood piece, built on recordings of an antique music box.
10. At Your Door. Another song inspired by our vision of the lush, warm sounds of ‘70s AM radio.
11. Les Petits Chasseurs Au Bord Du Lac Lunaire. Part three of the mouse opera, in which the eponymous “chasseurs” encounter a vast and otherworldly landscape.
12. Shadow Of The Bear. The oldest song on the album, originally written in an attempt to combine the sounds of Nico’s first two solo albums.
Pre-order the CD now at hongkonginthe60s.bandcamp.com and get an immediate download of the album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. Avaliable in real life and digital record stores on 2nd May.
