1201_Alarm, the multi-genre six-piece ensemble from London, announces their all-new album, Moonshot, in celebration of their 2020 debut album’s mission to the Moon. In 2021, the band’s innovative debut album Hello_World was loaded onto the payload of NASA’s spacecraft, Peregrine Lander, and is set to launch in late 2023, marking the first album on the Moon. To celebrate this astronomical adventure, 1201_Alarm will release their second album, with music written by Steve Thompson (Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Nigel Kennedy, Robert Smith) and featuring one special track played by Helen Sharman CMG OBE, the first British astronaut in Space. The band will launch the album with a live performance at the Temple of Art and Music on 14th November, for an evening of live music from both albums.
Experimenting with blending science and technology with a mix of jazz, electronica, classical, and more, 1201_Alarm produces unique music that aims to celebrate and embrace the wonder of science. The project started in 2016, when founding member Steve Thompson began interviewing renowned scientists and experts, including the late James Randi, Dr Aleks Krotoski, Dr Helen Cerski, and Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. With music inspired by each, their debut album Hello_World, will offer a time capsule of innovative music for future generations to come.
Continuing this draw from inspirational figures, the band were delighted to welcome Helen Sharman CMG OBE, the first British astronaut in space, for one unique track in Moonshot. Written for and played by scientist and pianist Sharman, Ozone 3 – named after Helen’s call sign during her week-long mission to the MIR Space station in 1991 – is a blend of classical and jazz music accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, and a beautifully flowing improvised flugal horn solo by the band’s trumpeter, Titch Walker.
Musician and founding member of 1201_Alarm Steve Thompson comments, I was absolutely thrilled when Helen agreed to come to our studio in London and record the track. The track is very different to the others on the album – a brief respite from the loud, upbeat jazz, Helen’s playing is calm and tranquil, how I imagined she felt in the MIR space station, gazing down on the Earth.
The date of Peregrine Lander’s rocket launch in the Winter of 2023 will be announced soon.
Album release date: Friday 10th November 2023
Live Performance: Tuesday 14th November 2023, 7.30pm
Temple of Art and Music, Elephant & Castle, 42 Newington Causeway, SE1 6DR
