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Students beat lockdown to release brand new album


May 25, 2020 - 1335 views

Coleg Llandrillo's Music Technology students have overcome all the odds, launching their new album onto the world market during lockdown…from their own homes!

To add to these remarkable feats of indefatigable determination and sheer talent, the students have announced that they will be donating the first three months of royalties to the NHS.

Every year the students produce an album of original songs. The new release is called 'Polar Opposite'. It is 16 tracks long, with each song being produced by a different student.

The album will be digital, and you will be able to buy a copy on iTunes, or you can stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play.

Sharing software between them, the songs were produced from home by Coleg Llandrillo's Music Technology students…who wouldn't be beaten by the pandemic.

The students are hoping that this year's digital-only release matches the popularity of last year's CD 'Pink Noise', which reached number 8 in the iTunes album charts… outselling Ed Sheeran and George Ezra for some time.

The students' initially started work on the project in October 2019 at the college's Rhos-on-Sea campus, putting together an eclectic mix of genres: rock, jazz, pop, EDM, alternative, and many more.

Speaking from home, one of the students involved, 18-year-old Harmony Flynn from Towyn, said: "Obviously with the lockdown going on we thought we'd be the first year who wouldn't be able to do it, and that sucked because we were really looking forward to it. But, we weren't going to be beaten that easily."

Jon Crowther, programme leader - Level 3 Performing and Production Arts, said: "In coordinating this project, my colleague James Taylor worked tirelessly to bring all the elements together.

"Students have all been highly enthusiastic right through the creation of this album. When college was shut lots of the recordings were left on college computers. James went into college like a superhero to download them. To cap it off, this year we have seen one of the largest cohorts of students within the department."

Previous albums created by students at Coleg Llandrillo include 'Mind Palace' and 'Pink Noise'. Those releases have peaked highly in music charts and some tracks are still current on the singles charts.

The college principal, Lawrence Wood, stars in the student-led trailer on social media. @musicpalace (Facebook) and @musiccolegllandrillo (Instagram).

The script and concept was fully developed by 17-year-old student Catrin Parry from Llysfaen. Catrin edited all of the videos too.