In 2009 the band, now known as Sea Power, were commissioned by the Edinburgh Film Festival to create their own soundtrack for the 1934 quasi-documentary, which they premiered by playing along live during a screening at the event. A studio version of the album followed in May the same year, while more screening/performances took place at the BFI in London and at cinemas in Brighton and Sheffield, while events were also staged on a series of islands, including Jersey, the Hebrides and a Norwegian islet in the Arctic Circle. Earning the group widespread acclaim upon its release, both for the music’s simpatico relationship with the original film and as a stand-alone work in its own right. Declared by The Quietus on release as a “perfect symbiosis that should rightly be regarded as something of an understated classic,” Ireland’s Hot Press called it “Stunning... breath-taking” while NME encouraged listeners to “let it all gloriously wash over you.” Fans will finally be able to experience that artistic and emotional depth on vinyl with this reissue.
