Premiere: Marty Willson-Piper’s Noctorum returns with fourth album ‘The Afterlife’

Photo by Olivia Willson-Piper

Fans of Marty Willson-Piper who’ve missed his contributions to The Church since his departure five years ago are in luck: the singer-songwriter/guitarist is back with a brand-new studio album with Noctorum, the duo he formed in 2003 with producer Dare Mason.

Noctorum releases The Afterlife — its fourth album and first full-length in seven years — on Friday, and we’re thrilled here at Slicing Up Eyeballs to premiere the record. Stream it in full below.

Willson-Piper and Mason formed Noctorum in 2002, naming the group after a village near their childhood homes outside Liverpool. The duo have recorded together sporadically, releasing their debut, Sparks Lane, in 2003. They followed that up three years later with Offer the Light, then released their third album, Honey Mink Forever, in 2011. Now, after seven more years, comes The Afterlife.

The new album opens with the single “The Moon Drops,” a worlds-collide tale set on the Tex-Mex border that floats along with a mariachi lilt — and sets a distinct mood for the record.

Listen to the full LP below — and check out Marty Willson-Piper’s solo tour dates.

Marty Willson-Piper tour dates

March 14: The Betsey Trotwood (downstairs), London, UK
March 15: The Betsey Trotwood (upstairs), London, UK
March 17: Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham, UK
March 18: Salt Cafe, Bristol, UK
March 19: Gullivers Lounge, Manchester, UK
March 20: Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, UK
March 21: The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, UK
March 22: Smithdown Social Club, Liverpool, UK

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

• The Church moves on without Marty Willson-Piper: ‘This step was not taken lightly’