The Magnetic North’s 2013 acclaimed debut album “Orkney-Symphony” was a soundtrack and homage to the landscape and folklore of the Orkney Islands, home to the band’s singer, Erland Cooper. Their follow-up album is a collection of songs and music based around the town of Skelmersdale Lancashire, where Simon Tong grew up.

‘Skem’ as it’s known locally is a ‘New Town’ that was built in the 1960s to accommodate the over-spill population from nearby Liverpool. It was meant to be a utopian new home for 80,000 people. But building stopped once just 40,000 had been housed. The hoped for industry and job failed to materialize, leaving a community of displaced and abandoned people.

In 1971 Dick Phelps, General Manager of the Skelmersdale Development. Corporation stated, “Our job as a development corporation is to complete the town as quickly as possible then go away…..and if the people who are living here aren’t happy then we’ve failed.” It’s fair to say the people definitely weren’t happy.
In the 1980s things took a surreal turn when Skelmersdale became home to the Transcendental Meditation community. Over a hundred families devoted to the movement settled there in cheap affordable housing at the behest of their TM leader, Maharishi Maheshi Yogi (guru to the Beatles). Twice a day they would gather and meditate with the goal of sending positive waves rippling out into the surrounding area and lifting the prosperity and well-being of the town. The Magnetic North’s guitarist Simon Tong’s family was one of these ‘TMers’ drawn to the area.
Inspired by works such as Ken Loach’s “Kes” and Ted Hughes’ “Remains of Elmet”, “Prospect of Skelmersdale” is a musical reflection of the town, its past and its continually developing present. It draws on childhood memories, the urban landscape and the lives of its inhabitants, uncovering the beauty, magic and mythology that can be found in the most unexpected places.

The Magnetic North are : Erland Cooper, Simon Tong and Hanna Peel