July Skies

July Skies

July Skies is a UK ambient and post-rock group from The Black Country, West Midlands. The project begins in 1997 as a one-man band, when Antony Harding buys his first guitar and starts recording under the name.

Line-up and collaborators

In 2003 Harding is joined by Epic45 musicians Ben Holton and Rob Glover. They contribute to Harding’s second, third and fourth albums, and also appear with July Skies in live performances. Harding also contributes to Avrocar’s 2008 album Against the Dying of the Light on Make Mine Music.

Releases

July Skies releases At the Height of Summer as an EP, then follows with the full-length albums Dreaming of Spires (2001), The English Cold (2004), Where the Days Go (2006), and The Weather Clock (2008). It also issues The Weather Clock EP in 2008 as a limited-edition release.

Style and themes

The music of July Skies is associated with ambient and post-rock, and its imagery and subject matter centre on memory, lost youth, childhood summers, the English countryside, post-war Britain, skies and weather, abandoned and rural landscapes, motorway bridges, suburbs, and faded innocence. The project also draws on references including the Festival of Britain, Super 8 film, Polaroid photography, Henry Moore, Orford Ness, Avebury, John Nash, and work by artists such as Harry Wingfield, John Berry, Martin Aitchinson, C F Tunnicliffe and Ronald Lampitt.