[Cover photo by Brian Sweeney]
International lockdown project Gates Of Light have announced the vinyl release of their debut album on the Shimmy-Disc label for April 29, 2022, alongside the release of new single and music video, “Belleville Sun.” The video was directed by Grant McPhee (Teenage Superstars, Big Gold Dream, Far From The Apple Tree) and Mathieu Kauffmann. Inspired by the intensity of lockdown, the 10-track project was originally released last year and was the result of a collaboration between five artists across four cities, three time zones and two continents.
Hailing from Glasgow, singer-songwriter Louise Quinn and producer Bal Cooke teamed up with London-based DJ and producer Scott Fraser; Parisian musician, DJ and producer Kid Loco; and film director and photographer, New York’s Tim Saccenti, who has previously worked with Run The Jewels and Pharel, to create an Electro-Pop reflection on “the grief, insularity and peculiar highs of lockdown”. Immediately after hearing the album, Post-Punk musician and Producer Kramer offered to release the vinyl edition on his label Shimmy-Disc (Daniel Johnson, Low and Galaxie 500).
Speaking on the new video, Louise Quinn writes:
“So lucky getting to work with Grant McPhee again on another Gates Of Light video and on 16mm again; but as with the last video shoot we done together our plans of filming outdoors in Glasgow were thwarted by torrential rain! Originally the plan was to send Grant to Paris to film with Kid Loco but unfortunately travel restrictions prevented that from happening so French Director Mathieu Kauffmann very kindly stepped in to shoot the Paris footage in the iconic Père Lachaise Cemetery. Grant and I filmed the outdoor Glasgow footage in the stunning Glasgow Necropolis where they shot the latest Batman movie. I absolutely love the video; it feels like an integral part of the track rather than an afterthought; it has an effortless timelessness whilst being very present. Grant has cut the Paris footage with the Glasgow footage beautifully and the 1963 Eclair footage evokes the sixties musical influences of the track; Nico; Vashti Bunyan; The Beatles etc… It also ties in well with the songs themes of memory, staying in the moment and making the most of now.”
Gates Of Light is the latest project from Louise Quinn and Bal Cooke who have released music in the past as A Band Called Quinn and Dawnings. This project was supported by The Culture and Business Fund Scotland, produced by Tromolo Productions and sponsored by Glasgow’s La Chunky Studios.
