Agricultural Audio

18 May 2023 - Press release

New Label Launches With Storm Franklin Featuring Ben Hiller and Juanita Stein

 

Agricultural Audio is the name of the South Downs studio, and now also a record label, of the producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Elbow, Depeche Mode, Nadine Shah). 

The debut release from Hillier’s new label, launched this month in partnership with The Orchard, will, fittingly, be a project of Hillier’s own. The first time he has stepped out from behind the producer’s desk for an artist project in his own right, Storm Franklin sees Hillier join up with the Howling Bells front woman and solo artist, Juanita Stein. 

Hush Now is a tantalising introduction to Hillier and Stein’s work together, the first single from a Storm Franklin album that will be released later this year. 

Storm Franklin came into being at Agricultural Audio, which is, as its name implies, set on a farm, close to Lewes, in late 2021. Hillier and Stein had first met the previous year, while working together on Juanita’s critically acclaimed third solo album, Snapshot. That record saw them delve into realms of luscious psychedelia and indie pop, a genesis that has no doubt served as a starting point for much of Storm Franklin’s evocative sound. 

Feeling creatively inspired, Hillier and Stein decided to head back into the studio with their only clear objective being to build songs together this time. It was apparent early on in proceedings that musically they were headed in an entirely different direction to anything either of them had worked on previously. A cold contrast drives the pulse of Storm Franklin’s music, and Juanita’s sweeping melodies and lyrics, steeped in heartache, create an inspired soundtrack with Ben’s trademark striking production and adventurous rhythms.

What materialised were songs that exist somewhere between the French pop nostalgia of AIR and 80s’ bands such as Tears For Fears and The Cars. Ideas, lyrics, counter-melodies and synthesisers were colliding inside the studio that winter, while outside those walls, there was a palpable sense of panic that had started to set in. With post-pandemic anxiety looming and the fear of a new war escalating, it was impossible not to feel the strangeness of it all. This was set against a significant storm brewing in the South of England at the time, named Storm Franklin. Gale force winds, flying debris and fallen trees accompanied each drive back and forth from the studio, and so it felt like the perfect band name to encapsulate the moment. 

Ben Hillier says of Storm Franklin, “From the first writing session the two of us sparked immediately. The music took on a life of its own and we soon realised that this wasn’t going to be a continuation of anything we’d done before but whole a new project”

Says Stein, “Hush Now came together incredibly fast and really lay the groundwork for what was to come. It was a process of deeply trusting our instincts and throwing ideas around with abandon, not entirely understanding the process, but when we listened back, it made all the sense in the world.”