Contemporary dark wave project HOST, launched by Nick Holmes and Greg Mackintoshof PARADISE LOST, have released a cover of A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS classic 80's hit 'I Ran'. The track is the final song to be released from the deluxe edition of their debut albumIX, which is now available on streaming services.
Greg Mackintosh comments "It was not my idea to do this song as a cover, I wasn’t totally convinced at first. The original, whilst being a great song, seemed a bit frothy and light to me.
When I isolated the vocal line however, I saw the tragedy in it and wanted to take it down a darker, more dystopian path."
Stream the deluxe edition of HOST's debut album IX featuring 'I Ran' now at: https://bfan.link/host-ix.ema
Purchase IX on various formats now from: https://bfan.link/host-ix.ema
About HOST
The origins of HOST do not trace back to the 1999 PARADISE LOST album bearing the same name but instead to the West Yorkshire music clubs of the mid-to-late 1980s. WhileHolmes and Mackintosh were already certified heavy metal fanatics (“metal thrashing mad” as Holmes equates), they were equally drawn to the New Wave and Goth music scenes. The pounding rhythms, sublime melodies and undercurrent of darkness drew them in, creating immediate earworms and a desire to delve further.
Mackintosh finally put plans into motion during the pandemic for a venture that would merge his penchant for sound design with the moods and atmosphere of 1980s dance-pop and Goth. The project was originally a solo pursuit until he asked Holmes, his longtime PARADISE LOST songwriting partner, to join. 'HOST' was selected as the name as a tip of the hat to the aforementioned album that found PARADISE LOST in an unprecedented period of experimentation that eschewed their metal roots and also challenged their fanbase in ways like never before.
“We always stood by 'Host' as an album,” says Mackintosh. “This project is not totally connected to that album, but some of the ideas are extrapolated. We’re taking the basic premise and trying it out now. And, really, it was something fun and interesting for us to do. We’ve been doing PARADISE LOST for a long time and got an itch to try something different from where PL is now. I could take PL down this route again. Who knows? It may happen if we live long enough, but I thought, ‘Why not now?’ I had the time to do it.”
HOST is:
Nick Holmes - Vocals
Greg Mackintosh - Guitars, Synths & Programming
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