Legendary Belgian post-punk/new wave pioneers The Names have released a new EP, Swimming With Brian Jones. The EP consists of three versions of the "Swimming With Brian Jones" track from the band's recently released Encore! album.
Some songs shimmer on the surface, and then some dive deep, slow, inevitable. "Swimming With Brian Jones" is one of those songs. Not just a track but a vision. A metaphor soaked in saltwater and memory. A descent through time where guitars ripple like waves and words carry the weight of everything we'll never say.
Descending a valley, the idea surfaced - sudden, luminous: to swim with Brian Jones. Not the icon, not the myth, but the man - blond, silent, floating just beneath the waterline since 3 July 1969. A final companion in the pool of endings. A quiet metaphor for that one truth we all share, dressed in shimmering echoes from The Names' early years, when another song, "Swimming", told of youth, hope, and open water.
With "Swimming With Brian Jones", The Names invite us for one last plunge. A slow-motion ballet in the undertow, where arpeggios clash like light on water, rhythms surge like tides, and - somewhere unexpected - a lone bagpipe appears, drifting from nowhere, calling from the edge of consciousness. What melody did Brian hear as he slipped beneath? Perhaps this one.
The EP unfolds like a submerged dream: the original album version, precise and poignant, full of undercurrents and unfinished thoughts; an exclusive remix by Gilles Robert, awash in dreamy synths and gentle distortion, recasting the song as a fragile trip-pop hallucination; a live version, recorded in Brussels on 9 November 2024 - a moment suspended in time, raw and immediate… and to top it all, a black and white video, filmed under the April sun on a Belgian beach, where sea and sky blur and memories are swallowed by the tide.
As the water rises, the clocks dissolve. The present drifts. We all move slowly toward that last swim. Will Brian be waiting? Will there be music playing? And when it's time… will you remember this song?
Another captivating, eclectic release from cult act The Names, which has etched its place in music history, once emerging from the iconic Factory Records alongside Joy Division and New Order. Link
THE NAMES - Swimming With Brian Jones EP Out Now
- Details
- Written by: Jerneja
Related articles
-
VIOFLESH - Unveils “Suffocating”, A Coldwave Descent Into Fear, Silence, And Inner Shadows
Chilean darkwave/coldwave/electro duo Vioflesh returns with “Suffocating”, a stark and emotionally charged new single that dives deep into the weight of unspoken fears and the ghosts... -
MOURIR - Launches "Aux inutiles" From Nous, le venin
French black metal quartet Mourir have unveiled their third single, "Aux inutiles", ahead of their sophomore album Nous, le venin, due for release on 10 July through Pelagic Records. -
THY SANATORIUM - Puts Out A-Ha's "Take On Me" Cover
Following the release of their self‑titled debut album this April, the anonymous multi‑national ensemble Thy Sanatorium return with a reimagined rendition of A‑Ha's iconic 1985 track... -
YOTH IRIA - Shares Video For "Harut, Government, Fallen"; Gone With The Devil Out Now
Hellenic black metallers Yoth Iria have shared the video for "Harut, Government, Fallen". The track appears on the band's stellar third album, Gone With The Devil, issued a week ago on...
-
AUX ANIMAUX
"When I found the goth scene and the music and everything around it, I slowly started to find my true self again. I'm fascinated by Satanism - not because I worship Satan..." - Gözde Duzer -
THERION
"There were already bands doing small illustrations of symphonic metal, and I was thinking, why doesn't someone do this all the time?" - Christofer Johnsson -
ANTIMATTER
"I'm quite obsessive, and when I work on music, I can overwork and get myself in trouble. I always had a breakdown when I finished an album, because I drove myself to the brink." - Mick Moss -
PARADISE LOST
"We only make an album when we feel genuinely inspired. You can't just say, "OK, I'm going to record a new album", because without inspiration, it would be boring." - Gregor Mackintosh
Social Links
Copyright © All Rights Reserved. Powered by Terra Relicta