Shield Patterns is the Manchester-based duo of Claire Brentnall and Richard Knox (A-Sun Amissa / The Rustle of the Stars / Glissando). Together they create intensely emotive music full of light and shade that's both melodic and incredibly detailed. It's a sound that is at once accessible and exploratory and ends up as a triumph of dark and dreamily surreal contemporary music.
The duo's critically acclaimed debut LP Contour Lines (2014) and subsequent EP Violet (2015) were both released via Richard's own Gizeh label with new album Mirror Breathing released in September 2016.
Operating with a fiercely DIY ethos, Shield Patterns is an exploration in sound and songwriting. The music is difficult to place into genres or pigeon-holes. Experimental sounds are married to striking, inventive melodies and wrapped up inside a rich, heavy, ethereal blanket.
• Contact: shieldpatterns @ gmail.com
• Booking UK / Europe / ROW: rich @ sleepsoundagency.com
• Print Press / radio: rich @ deathrattlepress.com
• Online Press: rich @ deathrattlepress.com
• Publishing: simon @ sentricmusic.com
The duo's critically acclaimed debut LP Contour Lines (2014) and subsequent EP Violet (2015) were both released via Richard's own Gizeh label with new album Mirror Breathing released in September 2016.
Operating with a fiercely DIY ethos, Shield Patterns is an exploration in sound and songwriting. The music is difficult to place into genres or pigeon-holes. Experimental sounds are married to striking, inventive melodies and wrapped up inside a rich, heavy, ethereal blanket.
• Contact: shieldpatterns @ gmail.com
• Booking UK / Europe / ROW: rich @ sleepsoundagency.com
• Print Press / radio: rich @ deathrattlepress.com
• Online Press: rich @ deathrattlepress.com
• Publishing: simon @ sentricmusic.com
SELECTED PRESS QUOTES:
INTERVIEW WITH THE SKINNY
THE SKINNY ★★★★★
"A stirring confessional, a thrilling musical evolution, and an inch away from perfect. If that."
SOUNDBLAB 9/10
“an intimate and touching album full of emotion”
LOUDER THAN WAR 9/10
"Gorgeously haunting vocals and sensual cello, clarinet and piano parts are all wrapped up in a synth and percussion parcel delivering an ethereal experience."
DEWERELD MORGAN
"Music with the beauty of a glacier."
THE SOUND NOT THE WORD
"Mirror Breathing – and, by extension, Shield Patterns – is something very, very special, and deserves to be both treasured, and recognised for the triumph that it is."
[SIC] MAGAZINE
"It is an ash covered place of spectral memories and somber incantation. I don’t know if you need to be alive or dead to reach that place but I want to go. I’m seduced."
PEEK-A-BOO
"A stunner. For a moment we had the first records of Sneaker Pimps in mind. So yes, it is a sort of trip hop, but because of the countless jazz, classical and experimental sounds, it's so much more than that"
THE MONOLITH
"Mirror Breathing is a variable smorgasbord of texture and depth. Nods very firmly at Björk whilst still retaining Shield Patterns’ distinct voice"
AURAL AGGRAVATION
“Haunting, hypnotic and disquieting, Mirror Breathingis an impressive work that warrants time for thought and reflection.”
BEACH SLOTH
"With a sense of style that is uniquely their own, Shield Patterns create a deeply moving haunting experience on Mirror Breathing."
SO WHAT
"Hypnotic and enveloping"
PENNYBLACKMUSIC
"You can't really categorise any of this because it has a sound of its own. And then there is that voice... "
ECHOES & DUST
"This is all about the attention to detail. Masterful, painterly, impressionist strokes of sound boldly placed across your aural canvas. Seemingly simple at first, yet delightfully nuanced at every step."
MUSIC WON'T SAVE YOU
"angular chamber music with dream-pop variations"
MITHRA
"An album that can not be ignored ...."
• The Skinny - Albums of the Year #27
• The Silent Ballet - Tracks of the Year #7
• The Music Fix - Best Albums of 2014
• [SIC] Magazine - Editor’s Pick’s of 2014 #3
• SeeSound - Albums of the Year #6
INTERVIEW WITH THE SKINNY
THE SKINNY ★★★★★
"A stirring confessional, a thrilling musical evolution, and an inch away from perfect. If that."
SOUNDBLAB 9/10
“an intimate and touching album full of emotion”
LOUDER THAN WAR 9/10
"Gorgeously haunting vocals and sensual cello, clarinet and piano parts are all wrapped up in a synth and percussion parcel delivering an ethereal experience."
DEWERELD MORGAN
"Music with the beauty of a glacier."
THE SOUND NOT THE WORD
"Mirror Breathing – and, by extension, Shield Patterns – is something very, very special, and deserves to be both treasured, and recognised for the triumph that it is."
[SIC] MAGAZINE
"It is an ash covered place of spectral memories and somber incantation. I don’t know if you need to be alive or dead to reach that place but I want to go. I’m seduced."
PEEK-A-BOO
"A stunner. For a moment we had the first records of Sneaker Pimps in mind. So yes, it is a sort of trip hop, but because of the countless jazz, classical and experimental sounds, it's so much more than that"
THE MONOLITH
"Mirror Breathing is a variable smorgasbord of texture and depth. Nods very firmly at Björk whilst still retaining Shield Patterns’ distinct voice"
AURAL AGGRAVATION
“Haunting, hypnotic and disquieting, Mirror Breathingis an impressive work that warrants time for thought and reflection.”
BEACH SLOTH
"With a sense of style that is uniquely their own, Shield Patterns create a deeply moving haunting experience on Mirror Breathing."
SO WHAT
"Hypnotic and enveloping"
PENNYBLACKMUSIC
"You can't really categorise any of this because it has a sound of its own. And then there is that voice... "
ECHOES & DUST
"This is all about the attention to detail. Masterful, painterly, impressionist strokes of sound boldly placed across your aural canvas. Seemingly simple at first, yet delightfully nuanced at every step."
MUSIC WON'T SAVE YOU
"angular chamber music with dream-pop variations"
MITHRA
"An album that can not be ignored ...."
• The Skinny - Albums of the Year #27
• The Silent Ballet - Tracks of the Year #7
• The Music Fix - Best Albums of 2014
• [SIC] Magazine - Editor’s Pick’s of 2014 #3
• SeeSound - Albums of the Year #6
