M INUTE TAKER RELEASES LONG-AWAITED SYNTH-POP ALBUM WOLF HOURS ON 28 JAN 2022
PRECEDED BY THE EMOTIVE SINGLE “LEAD YOU HOME” ON 14 JAN 2022
This year has seen independent Manchester-based musician Minute Taker (aka Ben McGarvey) perform live
in front of thousands at Manchester Pride. Then After The Rain, his recent single featuring LGBTQ+ icon Bright Light Bright Light, received airplay on BBC Radio 2. And now Minute Taker is set to release his much-
anticipated, self-penned new album, Wolf Hours.
The album marks a shift in style from Minute Taker’s trademark ethereal electronica to bold, melodic synth-
pop. Taking 80s retro influences from acts such as Pet Shop Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Bonnie Tyler, a-ha and even Madonna’s early releases, Wolf Hours exudes the warmth and magic of simpler, more analogue times.
Minute Taker: “I wanted the album to kind of feel like the sonic equivalent of going through a box of old stuff
you find in the loft; full of the comfort and mystique of childhood nostalgia, but a bit warped and degraded
over time”.
Growing up in the ‘80s, Ben had a recurring nightmare of being chased through woods by the wolf-like
creature “Gmork” from the 1984 fantasy movie, The Never Ending Story. This inspired the album’s title and,
along with other films of the era such as Batteries Not Included and Labyrinth, influenced the album’s retro
film-poster style artwork.
The Wolf Hours occur late at night when our repressed thoughts and memories inform our dreams, whether it’s supressed urges from the twisted recesses of our subconscious in Hearts (We’ll Never Know), fragmented childhood memories of video shops and playing the Commodore 64 in Nostalgia, the loneliness of sleeping alone after a break-up in Wild Things or even an imagined supernatural, Gothic love story set in the 1800s but playing out as a 80s TV movie in Mirror.
Wolf Hours is released 28 January 2022 on CD and digital download on Octagonal Records
(Vinyl release in Spring 2022)
Click here to pre-order now in digital stores and to pre-save on Spotify
