[et_pb_section fullwidth="off" specialty="on" background_color="#050505" inner_shadow="off" parallax="off" parallax_method="css"][et_pb_column type="3_4" specialty_columns="3"][et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_column_inner type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" background_layout="light" text_orientation="left"]<h1>Umpire</h1><p><a href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Antonymes_1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-9280" src="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Umpire_1-300x240.jpg" alt="Umpire" width="300" height="240" /></a><em>“manages to completely avoid every current trend being flogged at the moment to approach a timelessness that rewards upon repeated listens”</em> –<strong> The Vine </strong></p><p>Umpire are Perth’s widescreen indie-rock craftsmen, combining sprawling rock sounds with reflective melancholy, expertly wielding massive sun-drenched melodies, serpentine guitar parts and soaring vocals to spectacular effect. Australian audiences first became familiar with the band via with their debut single ‘Streamers’, which achieved widespread critical acclaim, national airplay and won WAM Song of the Year in 2009. Their debut album <em>Now We’re Active</em> built upon the band’s sonic and songwriting mastery to produce what was one of the most compelling releases of 2011.</p><p><strong><a title="Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/UMPIRE/33345133221?fref=ts" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone wp-image-8763 size-full" src="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Facebook.png" alt="Facebook" width="26" height="20" /></a>  <a title="Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/#!/umpiremusic" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone wp-image-8766 size-full" src="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Twitter.png" alt="Twitter" width="26" height="20" /></a> <a title="Website" href="http://www.umpiremusic.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone wp-image-8767 size-full" src="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Website.png" alt="Website" width="26" height="20" /></a> </strong></p>[/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider admin_label="Divider" color="#ffffff" show_divider="off" /][et_pb_tabs admin_label="Artist Tabs"][et_pb_tab title="Discography"]<h3>Discography</h3><div> </div><div> </div><h4>Now We're Active</h4><div> </div><p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 500px; height: 472px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1405546206/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/artwork=small/transparent=true/" width="300" height="150" seamless=""><a href="http://umpire.bandcamp.com/album/now-were-active">Now We&#39;re Active by Umpire</a></iframe><br />July 2011</p><div> </div><p><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Now We’re Active</span> is the debut album by Perth’s (Australia) widescreen indie-rock craftsmen Umpire. On <span style="font-style: italic;">Now We’re Active</span>, Umpire combine sprawling indie-rock sounds with reflective melancholy, expertly wielding massive sun-drenched melodies, serpentine guitar parts and soaring vocals to spectacular effect. From lead single ‘Green Light District’ through the chiming guitar surge of ‘The Canyon’ to gorgeous finale ‘Cyclones Into Sunshowers’, <span style="font-style: italic;">Now We’re Active</span> is a stunning release, as expansive as it is propulsive, as heartbreaking as it is life-affirming. <br /><br />Immaculately produced by bassist Simon Struthers at Forensic Audio, the album’s ten tracks bring progressive rock influences, indie-pop sensibilities and shades of math-rock into explosive collision, then shape them into songs that are at once epic and intimate. After the last song fades you’re left with a lump in your throat and admiration of how Umpire’s songcraft and sonics are so consistently elegant, melodic and widescreen. <span style="font-style: italic;">Now We’re Active</span> is much more than a collection of tracks – it’s an album that blossoms beautifully on repeat plays.</p><p> </p>[/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="Bio"]<h3>Biography</h3><p>Antonymes is designer, photographer, conceptualist and musician Ian M. Hazeldine, making music from the wilds of North Wales, a very strange, fantastic, ultimately unreal place of mountains, streams, woods, villages and obscure wilderness. To quote North Welsh poet R. S. Thomas, “to live in Wales is to be conscious at dusk of the spilled blood that went into the making of the wild sky, dyeing the wild rivers in all their courses.” His music begins at the piano, where notes, space and intention combine over time, until a shape appears. This shape is taken into the computer, where it is twisted, gently, and given more detail, until it is fully formed. Composition takes form through patience, probing, occasional accidents, spontaneity and a form of focused daydreaming. Debut mini-album <em>Beauty Becomes The Enemy of the Future</em> was released initially on David Newlyn’s Cathedral Transmissions label in December 2009, and as a self-published book in spring 2010. A second 2010 release, <em>31: Before The Light Fails</em>, was released as a digital download and as a special box, an edition of one, containing music and photography, representing Antonymes’ fear and suspicion of the herd mentality. The piece consisted of two tracks to be played simultaneously in separate rooms. Various pieces by Antonymes have appeared on compilations produced by labels Soundcolours, Dezordr, Cathedral Transmissions and Audio Gourmet. The album <em>The Licence To Interpet Dreams</em> was released by Hidden Shoal to widespread critical acclaim in early 2011. [/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="News"]<h3>News</h3>[catlist name=antonymes-news content=yes pagination=no title_tag=h4 title_class=lcp_title][/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="Reviews"]<h2>Reviews</h2>[catlist name=antonymes-reviews content=yes pagination=no title_tag=h4 title_class=lcp_title][/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="Press Releases"]<h3>Press Releases</h3><p><a href="../../publicity/press-releases/HSR_Press_Release-Antonymes_meets_Slow_Dancing_Society.pdf">Antonymes meets Slow Dancing Society – <em>We Don’t Look Back For Very Long</em> </a> <a href="../../publicity/press-releases/HSR_Press_Release-Antonymes_meets_Slow_Dancing_Society.pdf">EP </a> <em><a href="../../publicity/press-releases/HSR_Press_Release-Antonymes-Lost_In_Waves_Of_Light.pdf">Lost In Waves Of Light</a></em> <a href="../../publicity/press-releases/HSR_Press_Release-Antonymes-Endlessly.pdf"><em>The Licence To Interpret Dreams</em> Album</a> <a href="../../publicity/press-releases/HSR_Press_Release-Antonymes-Endlessly.pdf">‘Endlessly’ Single</a> <a href="../../publicity/press-releases/HSR_Press_Release-Antonymes_Signing.pdf">Antonymes Signing</a> [/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="Gallery"]<h3>Artist Photos</h3><p> </p>[gallery ids="8222,8221,8220,8219"][/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="Video"]<h3>Music Videos</h3><p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/U7tLhh8a1lo?rel=0" width="420" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4senhm9eiTY?rel=0" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> [/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title="Licensing"]<h3>Licensing</h3><p>Antonymes music is  available for licensing (master & sync cleared) through Hidden Shoal. Please <a title="Contact Us" href="http://www.hiddenshoal.com/contact-us/">contact us</a> with some basic details about your project and the track(s) you wish to use and we’ll be sure to get back to you straight away. [/et_pb_tab][/et_pb_tabs][/et_pb_column_inner][/et_pb_row_inner][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_4"][et_pb_sidebar admin_label="Sidebar" orientation="left" area="sidebar-1" background_layout="dark" module_id="shoalsidebar" /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_section]