[Photo courtesy of Shauna McLarnon]

By Lauren Patterson, Copy Editor

London-based Black Market Karma released a new single featuring Tess Parks, “The Sky Was All Diseased.” The single comes as the first release from the band’s upcoming collaboration album, Friends In Noise, set to release Jan. 13. via Flower Power Records.

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In a press release, frontman Stanley Belton discussed details of recording with Parks after meeting and becoming friends and even touring together. The two recorded this track in Belton’s studio during this time on breaks. 

“I’d had the groove and music to this song floating around in my brain for a while, but had no lyrics or vocal part,” he said.  “I happened to play it one time we were at the studio together … after a while I noticed Tess out of the corner of my eye scribbling down lyrics. She started humming a melody to herself and I loved what she was doing so we went with it.”

The track also follows the release of Black Market Karma’s latest album, Aped Flair and Hijacked Ideas on Sept. 29. The upcoming Friends In Noise also features collaborations with Ruari Meehan, The Underground Youth, Les Big Byrd / Joakim Ahlund, Tess, and The Confederate Dead. 

On the new album, Belton shares in its Bandcamp description that “Friends In Noise is a record of collaborations that came to life in a pretty hands-off way, at least for the most part.” “I never set out to make this album, as in it wasn’t something premeditated but through my travels with BMK, meeting and becoming friends with many great musicians, it was always inevitable,” he said.

Pre-order Friends In Noise on vinyl through Flower Power Records here, and listen to “The Sky Was All Diseased” below. 

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1wkYoLb1sg9Zhgz9GJ2pXr?utm_source=generator