EPK
L-SPACE /
POST COAL PROM QUEEN
Lily Higham and Gordon Johnstone make music for better worlds in the hope of making this one a little more beautiful along the way. They use retrofuturistic synths, catchy beats and Lily's ethereal vocals to create unique pop soundscapes which have been compared to the likes of Goldfrapp, Portishead, Radiohead and Mogwai. Their compositions have been heard on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, BBC Radio Scotland, and garnered international acclaim. Since forming in January 2017, L-space (with Dickson Telfer on bass) has released three EPs, a string of singles, and their three critically acclaimed albums, Kipple Arcadia, Music for Megastructures, and Feed The Engines!
Post Coal Prom Queen is the evolution of L-space; Lily Higham and Gordon Johnstone have refined their unique electronic sound to create beautiful, infectious pop music and a brand new live show. Combining elements of electro pop, trip hop, and PC music, PCPQ refuse to be pinned down to one sound and continue their ambitious sonic exploration at every turn. Their 2020 collaboration with Japanese synth-pop innovators Macaroom - Body of Water - has provided them with a solid fanbase in Japan and the beginnings of a long and fruitful relationship.
The duo also releases neoclassical and cinematic music under the moniker Emi James - an EP of recomposed L-space songs is planned for summer 2020.
DISCOGRAPHY
L-space pre-Last Night from Glasgow:
Sol 0 EP - January 2017
Sun Dog Fly EP - April 2017
L-space since signing to Last Night from Glasgow:
Suneaters (single) - March 2018
Backup Baby (single) - May 2018
Blue Flowers (single) - September 2018
Kipple Arcadia (album) - September 2018
Been Here Before (non-album single) - January 2019
Music for Megastructures (score) - April 2019
I Never Knew/Tigers In The Street (double A-side single) - October 2019
Feed The Engines! (album) - April 2020
Post Coal Prom Queen:
You Wouldn't Download a Car (single) - April 2020
Body of Water (with Macaroom) (single) - May 2020
Emi James:
Social Capital EP - July 2019
Sentries EP - August 2019
A Ton of Bricks EP - Summer 2020
Biography
Gordon and Lily met in 2014 while working at a charity in Edinburgh. They bonded one day while they were both gluing their shoes back together. Times we tough. Wages were low. Shoes were inadequate. The conversation revolved around the many hearts of a cuttlefish, first through seventh world problems, and the practicalities of pig farming on Mars.
L-space began in earnest in early 2017 when Gordon and Lily decided to record an EP. Sol 0 was a collection of songs the two had written together over the previous few months. Dickson Telfer provided a bassline for Blue Flowers just before the EP's release and saw the formation of the band and joined the band for live shows and recording until late 2019. From 2017-2019 L-space performed as a four-piece with help from Maura Keane and Stephen Solo joining on synth at different times.
In September 2018 Kipple Arcadia, the band's debut album, was released to critical acclaim (see press quotes below). The band quickly followed this with Music for Megastructures in April 2019 - an ambitious electronic score that was very well received and grew their fanbase significantly.
In November 2018 the Lily, Gordon and Dickson visited Normany in France at the invitation of James Sanger (Keane, Dido, U2, Brian Eno, among others) where they wrote several songs which become the 2019 double A-side I Never Knew/Tigers In The Street.
2019 saw the band's sound evolve from reverb-laden soundscapes to a much more immediate, punchy approach with a greater emphasis on Lily's voice and the lyrics she and Gordon have been working on. From 2020 Lily and Gordon will be writing and performing under the moniker Post Coal Prom Queen; they'll be playing the L-space back catalogue and new material at live shows.
April 2020 saw the release of Feed The Engines! and the postponement of the accompanying tour which would have taken the duo to London, Tokyo, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Lily and Gordon's influences range from the dystopias of Philip K Dick and Margaret Atwood to the music of Radiohead, Lana Del Rey, Charisma.com, Henryk Gorecki and Mogwai, to name just a few.
Press quotes
For Feed The Engines!:
"Their best work yet"
- Vic Galloway - BBC Radio Scotland
"a Celtic-tinged dystopia in a technicolour which paints over a cold robotic society"
★★★★ - The Wee Review
"A thing of beauty...perhaps the greatest thing they've ever done"
- Small Music Scene
For Kipple Arcadia:
"Futuristic chillwave...doubled-edged tales of optimistic dystopia”
★★★★ - The Skinny
"A debut album of some repute"
- Electronic Sound Magazine
"...bass grooves and transcendental keys, stirring kaleidoscopic mirages for the listener to enjoy"
★★★★ - The Wee Review
"Dazzling"
- Small Music Scene
"timeless in its lush use of sound and mood"
- AnalogueTrash
"truly enchanting"
- Louder Than War
8.16/10 - Sod Suk Sa
For Music for Megastructures:
"a finely tuned masterpiece"
Discovery Music
"Playful and wide-eyed...drips with humour and optimism"
8/10 - God Is In The TV
"Dazzlingly vivid and visually evocative"
The All Scene Eye
"A higher form of music"
The Devil Has The Best Tuna
"Joyously beautiful"
The Ginger Quiff
"Impressive, unusual, and bold"
Trust The Doc
"Waves of musical energy"
LA Music Critic
"If Brian Eno and Harold Budd made a baby on the International Space Station, it would sound like this band's triumphant record"
Darren Loki McGarvey
