Manchester's RICHARD EVANS

Manchester-based artist Richard Evans presents 'Black Rain', an electro pop offering that foreshadows his debut album 'Sentinel', a collection of eight tracks to be released via Cold Star Media, telling a story of humanity at a tipping point and a world trapped in a climate crisis.

An electronic musician, writer and digital media artist with dual Irish-British citizenship, Evan's projects are inspired from real-world science, exploring biotechnology, machine intelligence and the environment. The accompanying video for 'Black Rain', which surrounds the same themes, was filmed at the University of Salford / MediaCityUK by Ashley Tidball, Timur Atilgan and Will Wood.

Formerly keyboardist in UK cult band James, with whom he also co-wrote and recorded material, he was also a guitarist and songwriter for St. Vitus Dancers prior to that. Since cutting his teeth on the UK music scene from the early 1980s to early 1990s, his independent creative projects have received nine awards from Arts Council England and a Business Development Award from Creative England, as well as being commissioned for various projects by the University of Manchester and Manchester Science Festival.

"Black rain was a type of radioactive rain that fell after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The song reflects on the era of Cold War atmospheric testing that exploded over 600 nuclear weapons, as well as the accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima, all releasing long-lasting isotopes into the environment. The track starts with a rhythmic repetition of the Japanese word 'hibakusha' which means radiation-affected person. In a way, we're all radiation-affected persons now," says Richard Evans.

On 'Sentinel', analogue synths and sequences are mixed with melodic vocal hooks and drum machine rhythms. Recorded during the COVID lockdowns, the album's concept was spawned several years ago during an acclaimed multimedia live show that explores climate change in sound and light, featuring electronic music, video and data visualisation content. Originally commissioned by Manchester Science Festival with additional support from Arts Council England and Creative England, it has since been performed at festivals across the country.