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Correspondent’s Club 013 – 19/12/23
Letterbox Music News Perks TCCThe life of a new song, something to dance to, plus a 20-page zine Q&A with photos and studio recording notes.
The only way to get access to future Correspondent’s Club releases is to become a member – browse member perks here.
Track listing:
1. Life Of The Party (rehearsal)
2. Pearlescent Brilliant Sporty Blue (posh demo)
3. Life Of The Party (posh demo)
4. Life Of The Party (phone performance)
Correspondent’s Club 012 – 5/9/23
Letterbox Music News Perks TCCOne never-before-shared demo, some buried treasure plus a 24 page zine-letter with photos.
The only way to get access to future Correspondent’s Club releases is to become a member – browse member perks here.
Track listing:
1. Lady Music For Ladies
2. Olympian Livestream 10/6/23
3. I’ll Start A Fire 9/9/20
4. Exotic Monsters a capella 26/1/21
Correspondent’s Club 011 – 16/5/23
Letterbox Music News Perks TCCFour brand new Penfriend demos, written as part of the recent Laura Veirs x School Of Song workshop series, plus a 24 page zine of thoughts, feelings and photos.
The only way to get access to future Correspondent’s Club releases is to become a member – browse member perks here.
Track listing:
1. The Dust And The Dark (demo)
2. Survival Information (demo)
3. Hold Tight (demo)
4. In The Light Sometimes (demo)
Stars and spangles: “Elephant”: the video
Creativity Letterbox Releases Singles
“Elephant” by Obey Robots features on our album “One In A Thousand”, out 24th February 2023 and available here.
Someone said the thumbnail of this video makes me look like I’m in an episode of Doctor Who, and I am here for that.
VIDEO CREDITS
Directed, shot and edited by Laura Kidd.
Filmed in the corner of Rat’s messy attic in the Midlands and in the middle of Laura’s messy home studio in Bristol. Luna tried to get on camera, but it wasn’t the right time. Can you spot her in this one though?
SONG CREDITS
Produced by Laura Kidd in The Launchpad, Bristol.
Mixed by Chris Sheldon at Red Cedar, London, mastered by Katie Tavini at Weird Jungle, Brighton.
All music by Laura Kidd and Rat. Guitars by Rat.
All lyrics, arrangements, vocals, bass and synths by Laura.
Drums by Max Saidi.
“Elephant” – Obey Robots
Creativity Letterbox Music News Releases SinglesTaut and propulsive, āElephantā marries the pop nouse of XTC with the stop-start dynamics of 00’s post-hardcore mainstays Hundred Reasons before opening up into the kind of shimmering chorus that would have shot Obey Robots to MTV stardom had it been the 90’s.
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Pre-order the Obey Robots album “One In A Thousand” now and receive this track PLUS four more immediately.
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Shop limited edition vinyl, signed CDs, cassettes, tees, hoodies, lyric books and guitar pick tins.
SONG CREDITS
Produced by Laura Kidd.
Mixed by Chris Sheldon. Mastered by Katie Tavini.
All music by Laura Kidd and Rat, all lyrics and arrangements by Laura Kidd. All vocals and bass by Laura, all guitars by Rat. Drums by Max Saidi.
Ratās guitars recorded by Dan Austin. All other instruments recorded by Laura in The Launchpad, Bristol.
Single artwork by Laura Kidd, robot illustration by Alex Tillbrook.
LYRICS
Newspaper shouts that weāve had enough
The radio says weāre all out of love
Donāt let them take what you worked hard for
Slaving away for your family
Thereās nothing left for the strangers who bleed
Hold tight to the things that you value
Thank your lucky stars
Look to the future
Thereās freedom in guitars
We try to get it right
Fight the forces on the other side
Just a little longer
Unbandaging our eyes
Count the seconds as they crystallise
Itās just a little further
The government says weāre overrun
They get a break while you soldier on
Cos you donāt have the life that you deserve
Youāre working hard for your family
Thereās nothing else, you believe what you read
This wasnāt given to you on a plate
Donāt politicise
Stick to the music
Dance for a little while
Always scraping the barrel
Parroting lines
Iāve never felt so angry
We try to get it right
Fight the forces on the other side
Just a little longer
Unbandaging our eyes
Count the seconds as they crystallise
Itās just a little further
Weāre wasting time
Donāt want to feel so bad
Weāre wasting time
And it was all we had
We try to get it right
Fight the forces on the other side
Just a little longer
Unbandaging our eyes
Count the seconds as they crystallise
Itās just a little further
We try to get it right
Fight the forces on the other side
Just a little longer
Unbandaging our eyes
Losing hours as they hypnotise
Itās always a little further than we can
Yes, we made these costumes ourselves…
Creativity Letterbox Releases Singles
“Porcupine” by Obey Robots features on our album “One In A Thousand”, out 24th February 2023 and available here.
The only reviews I care about are from music fans…here are some words on “Porcupine”:
“Damned fine. Catchy, driving tune allied to pleasingly daft day-go visuals” – author Ian Rankin
ā90s guitar mated with 80s synth to make a 2023 musical gem of a baby. love it.ā – TheHousePanther
āan absolute hoot!ā – Jo
āYou Robots know how to party!ā – Joe
āAwesome riff, hilarious video, cracking song! Love it!!! ā – Gary
āSO FUN! Love this!ā – Wendy
āKiller riff, great vocal, and a hugely fun video to go with them. Well played, again. This album is going to be a belter.ā – Matt
āPink wafers for the win.ā – PupGeorge
āThat was absolutely bonkers and I love it!ā – Vince
āWhat fabulous nonsense! I will practice dance moves for any live performance you put on – even if I’m not attendingā – Shane
āevery part of this is utterly delightful!ā – Dan
āI am a porcupine!ā – Jez
THANK YOU
I’d had this video idea in mind for months, and when it came time to make it a reality the timing was perfect.
New Year, new outlook. It was time to throw off the bad bits of 2022 and be as utterly silly as we liked. Who cares?
I’m a porcupine! You’re a porcupine!
The song is about defensiveness (particularly on the internet); our seemingly innate urge to throw up our spikes right away to defend ourselves by caricaturing the opposition, magnified by addictive media.
We’re told “there’s nothing new under the sun”…bring me another song containing the words “erethizontidae” and “hystricidae” accompanied by a video featuring a cardboard robot party in the local village hall and I’ll agree with you!
PS the last few “I’m a Porcupine” tees are for sale here.
VIDEO CREDITS
Directed and edited by Laura Kidd
DOP – Sarah Smither
Camera and lighting assistant – Miles McDowell
Set photography, porcupine creation and general wonderfulness – Tim Bailey
Costumes by Rat & Laura (obviously!)
Filmed at Shirehampton Public Hall, Bristol
SONG CREDITS
Produced by Laura Kidd in The Launchpad, Bristol.
Mixed by Chris Sheldon at Red Cedar, London, mastered by Katie Tavini at Weird Jungle, Brighton.
All music by Laura Kidd and Rat. Guitars by Rat.
All lyrics, arrangements, vocals, bass and synths by Laura.
Drums by Max Saidi.
Correspondent’s Club 010 – 7/2/23
Letterbox Music News Perks TCCI found some treasure! My Zoom recorder died, and I nearly formatted the SD card before realising it *might* be pretty full of song ideas… It was, so I listened and talked through some of the snippets that might make it onto the second Penfriend album. Watch this space!
The only way to get access to future Correspondent’s Club releases is to become a member – browse member perks here.
Track listing:
1. Adventures in sound and songwriting
2. Taking small steps
3. I found some treasure
Preview track: “Adventures in sound and songwriting”
Why I shot a music video using Quicktime player and made it look like a Zoom call…
Creativity Letterbox Music News Process Releases Singles
Originally released in December 2020, āLet It Snowā wasnāt just the first Obey Robots single, it was the first song we completed (in December 2020!).
It was a test:
-> can we make music together?
-> do we love what we made?
-> does anyone want to hear it?
If the answer to the first two questions had been ānoā, you would never have heard of Obey Robots. And if the answer to the second question was āyesā, the answer to the third question would never stop me anyway.
Happily, the answer to the second question was HELL YES! – and the overwhelmingly positive response from music fans was the icing on the cake. A cake full of riffs! 
For this new video, I decided to invite you in to get a sense of what the collaboration process was like for Rat and I.
By December 2020 weād only met in person twice, so all communication was by email and occasional Zoom calls. We were always speaking from our individual creative spaces, which I think helped us both to feel more confident talking to someone we didnāt know that well.
I got so used to seeing Rat on my computer screen that it still surprises me when we meet up – heās very tall!
Most of the video was shot using Quicktime player. Weāve all grown perhaps too familiar with the particular quality of footage you get on video calls, so I wanted to retain that to bring you right into the middle of things.
All the footage up to the instrumental was shot individually and separately: me in my home studio, Rat in his. And then – well, I donāt want to ruin the plot twist, youāll just have to watch!
Being creative doesnāt require fancy equipment or a big team of people. You can achieve a lot with just an idea, some basic gear and the drive to complete something. Thatās how our album was made, and how everything else weāre sharing is being made. Thatās how Iāve always worked.
This is real people making real music about real things. I hope you enjoy it.
Love,
Laura xo
-> PRE-ORDER “One In A Thousand” by Obey Robots now – out on 24th February 2023! You’ll receive four songs immediately, with another beaming into your inbox before the album release.
Thank you for supporting independent music!
Correspondent’s Club 009 – Winter 2022
Letterbox Music News Perks TCCThe ninth edition of The Correspondent’s Club quarterly music and zine bundle, a members-only 9-song live performance.
Track listing:
1. Dress rehearsal
2. Olympian
3. Devastate Me
4. Dispensable Body
5. Please Don’t
6. I long ago decided
7. Loving Echoes
8. Paper Thin
9. Seashaken
10. Black Car
11. TOWOIT
Preview track: “I long ago decided”
