Noonday Underground - The K-O Chorale

The K-O Chorale is the fourth album from Noonday Underground, aka Producer, DJ and current Paul Weller collaborator Simon Dine. Where Noonday Underground's last album, 2006's On The Freedom Flotilla, saw Dine collaborating with long time cohort and former Morcheeba vocalist Daisy Martey on an album of what the sonic architect calls "proper songs," The K-O Chorale sees Dine return to the cut-and-paste choral style used on his outfit's first album Self Assembly. "I visualised The K-O Chorale as fragments of old distant choirs floating in space then being squeezed together and formed into planets," says Dine. "All the songs are about falling in and being in love - loads of lovely moments rather than straight pop songs. It's an album of mood music really for those in the mood for love!" Recorded over a period of three years at home and at Manchester's Airtight Studios, the album, says Dine, was "pieced together like a big jigsaw in the spare room." The end result is utterly joyous, full of what Dine describes as "big, heartfelt, cinematic, Disney-esque vocals that are dripping with love." The title reflects that whump of heavenly voices: it's the knock-out chorale of singers. Dine's work as Noonday Underground began in 1997 following the dissolution of his former band Adventures In Stereo. The first Noonday Underground album, Self Assembly, followed in 1999, and became a cult hit. The Noonday Underground track The Light Brigade was later used as the theme for the hit UK comedy drama No Angels, another Boy Like A Timebomb used by Steve Buscemi in his film Interview while Dine has remained a prolific songwriter and producer, working with singer-songwriter Candie Payne on her 2007 album for Deltasonic. As a collaborator, Dine is most notable for his work with Paul Weller. As well as co-producing the number 1 album 22 Dreams he was heavily involved as producer and co-writer of Weller's latest album Wake Up The Nation which reached number 2 in the UK album charts. "It was a blast to make and I'm really proud of it," says Dine of his latest Weller collaboration. "We worked together a lot in the past but it was great to start something from scratch. He's always open to ideas and puts all his energy and talent into the music he is making." During and between making these albums, Simon kept chipping away at the The K-O Chorale. The end product is designed to feel like "total immersion in someone and something: a bubble that feels like it will never burst." Not a concept album per se, it's nevertheless a giant ode to the feeling of love. "I'd like to think it works best when played as one piece," says Dine. "Some musical elements pop up in different songs as the whole thing floats by."

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