When: 7.30pm on Thursday 11 July 2013
Where: Night & Day Cafe, 26 Oldham St, Manchester, M1 1JN

We’re delighted to be bringing Owen Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone) back to Manchester – this time, under his new guise, Advance Base.

Advance Base is the new musical project by Chicago, Illinois singer, songwriter and producer Owen Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone).

A Shut-In’s Prayer is Ashworth’s first full-length release in over three years, and his first under the name Advance Base. Recorded at home and in piano practice rooms at the Chicago Public Library, A Shut-In’s Prayer is an intimate collection of deliberately crafted but decidedly lo-fi torch songs, waltzes and ballads. Released in 2012, it was voted #19 on Mojo Magazine’s Best Albums of that year.

Accompanying himself on his Rhodes 54 electric piano, Ashworth sings nostalgic stories about lost loves, childhood friends, estranged siblings and hard feelings over simple drum machine rhythms & spare percussion. The additional arrangements that fill out these ten songs intertwine gentle upright piano melodies and expansive electric bass, filling the spaces between plainly-sung harmony vocals and strummed autoharp chords, with the occasional creaking floorboard or snapping reverb spring to remind you of the cramped rooms where this album was recorded.

It’s a different sound than one might expect from the dude from Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, but Ashworth’s keen ear for melody and idiosyncratic skill as a lyricist have only improved in recent years, pushing his memorable songwriting in all new directions. At age 35, Ashworth has a lot of music left in him, and he’s just getting started again.

Advance Base’s new EP, The World Is In A Bad Fix Everywhere, will be out in late June 2013 on Orindal Records.

Support comes from Monument Valley. Monument Valley is the musical alias of producer and songwriter Ned Younger. Recently returned from a year-long hiatus, the Londoner’s debut LP will be released in 2013. Blending the keen lyrical focus that defined his earlier material with an increased interest in atmosphere and texture, the project brings classic songwriting to the sound of today’s London. Previous releases received acclaim from the likes of NME and The Line of Best Fit, and Younger has recently toured with Daugher, Lianne La Havas and Boy & Bear.

Book tickets now. Tickets are available from Common (no booking fee), Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Seetickets.com, WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

Attend on: Facebook | Last.fm