RELEASE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DEBUT ALBUM
‘BLACK & WHITE MOVIE’
‘BLACK & WHITE MOVIE’ IS PRODUCED BY ELBOW’S CRAIG POTTER & FEATURES EMMY-WINNING COMPOSER BEAR McCREARY AND LEGENDARY ACTOR SIR BEN KINGSLEY
Friday 21st March: Gustaffson have today released their highly anticipated debut album ‘Black & White Movie’. The album is produced by Elbow’s Craig Potter and features collaborations with Emmy-winning composer Bear McCreary and legendary actor Sir Ben Kingsley. Listen here.
Alongside the album, the band have released another striking video, this time accompanying the song Closer, a track whose soulful organ and gospel backing belies the dark lyrical commentary on the rising power of technology, imploring us to pull away from the screen and seek face-to-face human connection, to be “closer” to each other. Watch here.
Three previous singles from the album were released alongside videos which are more like short movies. ‘Underground’ (watch/listen he
Black & White Movie tells extraordinary tales of ordinary lives. With 13 tracks that serve as individual cinematic experiences, Andrew Gower’s poignant lyrics, honed over 15 years as an actor, shine light and dark on the duality of human existence. Seamlessly blending the iconic sounds of both music and film worlds, the album invites listeners on a journey where every track is a movie in its own right.
The songs are stories of escapism (‘Paris in Summer’), Hollywood dreams (‘Bonnie & Clive’), iconic Liverpool venues ‘The Jacaranda’ and the Liverpool Empire (‘Champagne Socialist’), with the album ending on their anthemic paean to the North (‘Northern Baby’).
In amongst these tales is the origin story of the band’s name. In ‘Some Kind of Sweden’, Gower answers the question: “Why are we called Gustaffson? After my Swedish-born great Grandmother, Louisa Gustaffson, who epitomised the word kind.”
Liverpool-born singer and songwriter Andrew Gower formed Gustaffson in 2020 with lifelong friend and guitarist James Webster (‘Webbo’). Though he has been writing music since the age of 15, Gower is best known for his acting roles in acclaimed TV shows such as Black Mirror, Outlander, and Carnival Row.
Serendipity struck when Gower met elbow musician and producer Craig Potter on a film set, sparking a musical collaboration which led to the recording of a debut EP, The Jacaranda, at Blueprint Studios in Manchester (where Potter recorded elbow’s Mercury Prize-winning album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’) with new band members David Gleave (bass) and Graham Bennett (drums). The creative relationship sealed, Gustaffson, now with the addition of Liam Morson on keys, returned to Blueprint with Potter to record their album.
Gustaffson are excited to present Black & White Movie, an original vintage record in a modern algorithmic world.
Jo Whiley – BBC Radio 2
“I love the drama. I love the drama of this. So good.”
Chris Hawkins – BBC Radio 6
“This will stop you in your tracks. A thing of standout beauty”
1883
“Gower brings his cinematic storytelling to life through music”
Hunger
“The kind of record that reminds you why people fell in love with music in the first place”
Black & White Movie – Tracklist
Champagne Socialist
Closer
On Broadway
Flowers
The Jacaranda
Underground
Paris in Summer
Go Easy
Bonnie & Clive
Night People
Some Kind of Sweden
Kingdom
Northern Baby
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