Northern Light Exposure

Indie post punk revivalists Northern Light Exposure formed in London in 2014. Inspired by the aurora borealis, their name aptly tags their atmospheric multi-layered post rock, while their sound nods to their forefathers: the likes of the Doves, Interpol, and Editors. Songwriter Andrew Glen and guitarist Tom Cavanagh met through an online music forum and founded the band off the back of a shared love of seminal 80s groups Echo & the Bunnymen and the The Sound; effect pedals, and single malt whisky.

Prior to forming the full line-up, Glen self released what would be their debut – a five-track mini album called The Liar’s Chair. The strength of his songwriting soon caught the attention of bassist Lee-Anne Burgess and drummer Greg Zielinski, who completed the band’s rhythm section. Perfecting their sound slowly, they sought their own rehearsal space, taking up residence in a basement in Greenwich that they acquired from the dream-pop duo Still Corners.

Later that same year, and now with a handful of new songs under their belts, they turned to producer Pat Collier – the mastermind behind the sound of so many of the bands that inspired them, including The House of Love, and The Jesus & Mary Chain – to produce their next single Embers, which they released that October.

After a round of gigs on the London circuit, they returned to Collier’s Perry Vale studios in South East London the following summer to record their next EP, An Honest Way of Living. With this collection of songs they wanted to explore the possibilities of injecting pacier, darker tones into the music to contrast with the sunnier sounds of ‘Embers’. Working with award-winning London director Chris Carr, the band devised a video to accompany the title track. Shot on location in and around South London, the film tells a fittingly dark tale of spiralling debt, in keeping with the track’s key theme: an “affluenza” culture that encourages us all to live beyond our means.