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Words by Meg Sweeney
Across eleven tracks, shoegaze, dream-pop and ambient textures wash together, carried on waves of field recordings, synths and hazy guitars.
Released 12 September, the Dreams Along the Shore has been five years in the making, first recorded in bedrooms during Archie’s university years before being fleshed out with collaborators in Brighton. The long gestation has left its mark: every track feels interconnected, recorded, mixed, produced and mastered by Archie, woven through what he calls “a consistent vision which helps keep things planted in the same world.” Even the structure mirrors the tide, with the final moments looping back into the opening to create a cyclical narrative and rhythm of renewal. It’s the kind of record that feels at home soundtracking a lazy Sunday morning or a late-night walk along the beach.
Highlights include ‘Fistral’, the heavy shoegaze penultimate track built on a dark, doomy chord sequence first sketched with his band ladylike. Reworked with lyrics drawn from recurring dreams of walking along the Cornish beach at night, the song swells into a thick wall of distortion, likened to Drop Nineteens’ ‘Kick the Tragedy’. Elsewhere, folk-tinged acoustic touches, twinkling synths and metres of spliced tape loops (“clicks and all”) bring warmth and texture to a record that always feels alive, always in motion.
The coastal theme is no accident. Growing up spending summers in Newquay, Archie has long drawn inspiration from the Cornish coastline. The second half of the album follows beaches from east to west - Tolcarne, Great Western, Towan, Fistral, Crantock - each track tethered to a memory. It’s music steeped in nostalgia, change and the cycles of nature but never weighed down by it; there’s a lightness and authenticity to his delivery that makes the record glow.
Beyond his solo work, Archie’s creative energy seems boundless. He runs non-profit label Crafting Room Records, which this year alone has released work by Ideal Living, ELLiS·D, Maximilian and now Archie himself. He also works as a photographer, music journalist and director of the Farm Road Video sessions - all part of what he calls the DIY ethos of “trying to get involved in any way I can.”
Dreams Along the Shore layers sound, memory and place, gently carrying us from summer into autumn.
Dreams Along the Shore artwork
You released your self-produced EP New Colours In The Sky back in 2021. How does it feel to return with your new solo LP Dreams Along the Shore?
Very exciting! I’ve learnt so much about every step of the process since my EP and I’ve changed so much as a person. The new album has been five years in the making and I’m so glad I can finally put Dreams Along The Shore out into the world.
The album really is a record to listen to as a whole. I love how you’ve woven in sounds of the sea and shimmering synths throughout. Can you talk us through the process of recording and curation?
The first song I wrote off the album was 'Crantock'. I originally made it for my debut album Happy New Year in 2020 but felt like I didn’t get it quite right so I rearranged it about four more times. I wanted it to feel like something straight out of the end sequence of an indie movie; the original version had a clip from ‘Almost Famous’ that played halfway through! That feeling of nostalgia, melancholy and transformation was what I really wanted to create on Dreams Along The Shore. After I’d written each track on the album, I ordered them and rewrote sections and lyrics to interweave themes and transitions between songs. I recorded, mixed, produced and mastered most of what you hear so there was a consistent vision which I think helps to keep things planted in the same world. Every track was originally recorded in my bedroom during my second and third year at uni and then recorded properly with a host of lovely people I met in Brighton.
There are so many delicate sonic layers on the record. Is there a detail you’re especially proud of that listeners might not notice straight away?
I’m not sure if anyone would notice this if I didn’t point it out, but the end of the album runs straight into the start; creating this nice cyclical narrative to the album. I’m also really proud of the end of ‘Cheaper Than Polaroids’. I spent a long time cutting up tape in the studio and creating loops that stretched across the whole room. I also created looping cassette tapes and borrowed a bank of Walkmans. This huge array of ¼ inch tape and Walkmans was wired into the mixing desk where I played the faders like an instrument to bring new elements in and create this swirling ambient mass. After I left the studio, I listened back and was really frustrated with the popping and tape hiss on the recording I made so I went back and respliced the tape and cleaned up the old tape machines. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make something better than my first take - so I stuck with it, clicks and all.
The album has a gorgeous, laid-back beachy vibe but the second single and penultimate track ‘Fistral’ leans into the heavier side of shoegaze. What was it about this song that called for darker tones?
I wrote this chord sequence on a bass IV one practice with the band ladylike and decided to take it home and work it into one of my songs. These chords sounded so heavy on bass and I wanted to try and use some of the darker, doomy sound in the rest of the track. The lyrics were stolen from another demo that wasn’t going anywhere, and they were originally based on snippets of Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness. I then reworked the lyrics and made them about a dream I kept having where I was walking along Fistral beach at night. When Matt produced the song, we added layers and layers of distorted guitar to the final section to try and create this thick wall of sound. I was very inspired by ‘Kick The Tragedy’ by Drop Nineteens and wanted to create that warm and oppressing sound.
The seaside is a strong theme in your songwriting, with the second half of songs on the album taking their name from Cornish towns. How has the coast shaped your songwriting and perspective?
I think it's always been present in my music. Everytime I'm back in Newquay I feel this nostalgia back to the previous times I've spent on the beaches. I'd come to them every summer with my family to visit my grandparents and it's always been a source of inspiration for my music and its artwork. The second half of the album is named after the Newquay coastline, following the beaches from east to west - Tolcarne, Great Western, Towan, Fistral, Crantock - and each track is inspired by memories associated with each beach.
You also run Crafting Room Records - something we’ve spoken to many of your artists about but not you directly! What’s it like being at the helm of a non-profit label?
It's a very hectic but very rewarding experience! I feel very proud to be working with such a range of incredible artists and helping them get their music out into the world. This year has been really exciting for the label. We've released the debut EP and novel This Big House by Ideal Living, the new EP Spill from ELLiS·D, the single ‘Long Time Gone' by Maximilian and my new album of course! We're now distributed across most music shops in the UK and we’ve had some great coverage on Bandcamp and Radio 6!
Alongside making music and running Crafting Room you also work as a photographer, music journalist and direct the Farm Road Video sessions. What keeps you inspired to juggle so many creative projects?
There’s so much great music out there and I always find myself trying to get involved in any way I can. I’ve built up a pretty diverse range of interests: from making music videos, taking press shots, writing articles and conducting interviews, producing music, managing social media accounts and working as a graphic designer. It comes naturally when you run a DIY label as there’s so many different things you need to be able to do. It’s all a great learning experience and I’m so glad I can roll everything I do back into the label and help amazing musicians out!
And finally, what else is in store for 2025?
I’ve been working on a new ambient project which I’m looking forward to piecing together. The demos are all there and I want to blend it all together and record it in one session, like KLF’s ‘Chill Out’. The next issue of the Crafting Room Magazine is also on the horizon and I’m really looking forward to putting it out there. There’s also some very exciting releases on the horizon for the label, including debut releases by two new bands. I’m also looking forward to playing Swn fest and Mutations with ladylike on bass. Things are going great and they’re only getting better.
Grab your limited edition copy of Dreams Along the Shore here.
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