The latest volume in the Selected Songs series curated by Antiquated Future Records and Two Plums Press, For When the Future Rolls Around (Selected Songs, 2012-2017) is a collection of songs by Two White Cranes. The solo project of Roxy Brennan (who also played with Grubs, Trust Fund and Joanna Gruesome, among others), Two White Cranes was active for just five years in various cities around the south of England, but in that time released two studio albums and amassed something of a cult following.
With a sound that borrowed equally from folk, DIY pop and post-punk, Brennan’s music was continually surprising and distinctive. It married slow moments of heartfelt reflection with others that rose in jagged peaks, unusual melodies and unpretentiously poetic lyrics that offered glimpses of life’s moments, both mundane and exceptional.
For When the Future Rolls Around (Selected Songs, 2012-2017) illustrates this style perfectly, bringing together tracks from both albums as well as home-recorded releases, live cuts and previously unreleased material. The first single is ‘Resilience’, a song that first appeared on 2015’s Radisson Blue that sketches seemingly quotidian scenes to talk about a bigger picture. “Sitting in the living room on Essex Street,” it begins, backed by simple electric guitar and a feeling of negative space, “you had just shaved your head and I’d been out to eat.” As the title suggests the takeaway emotion is something hopeful, especially when the drums kick in and the whole thing takes on the quality of a slo-mo pop punk hit.
my bedroom has moths in
they’re tiny, they eat nothing
my clothes do not have holes in
I thought they would by nowmore resilience than expected
As with previous Selected Songs releases, the release comes on beautiful gold-foil cassettes packaged in letterpress and offset-print boxes and bundled with a risograph-printed booklet of essays by Selected Songs series co-curator Joshua James Amberson and Roxy Brennan. It’s a fitting tribute to the project, a must for long-time fans and the ideal introduction for new listeners.
For When the Future Rolls Around (Selected Songs, 2012-2017) will be released on 31st May and you can get it on cassette or as a download from the Antiquated Future Bandcamp page.
