A non-conforming and anti-non-conforming album. Out of the ghetto! Or inside, depending on your own will. Things that may appear as a veil of anarchy, in reality are "self-conformity", conformity with your own identity with own origins and traditions. "Right", "Left" (and their parties) become conventional words and the individual with his mood acts as principal pusher for ideals: full ideals, lived, current and not "told".
"Gloucester Road" with its apocalyptic sceneries goes back to neofolk, which has been inspiring Viking for so long during these years. According to Viking "Gloucester Road" is easy "busking" as in the tube, when, instead, the album presents an artistic maturity in composition and esecution, and a gap in quality between Viking's past and present works. Obviously there's something to improve, besides Francesca lives her sweet 22nd year of life and she has a life in front of her.
In addition to the new Viking-signed songs, there are 2 Jethro Tull songs in the album and a German military ballad with new lyrics, rewritten by a young Italian comrade. "Gloucester Road" is no planned album (it was recorded suddenly!), instrospective and Viking decided to repropose 3 songs from her past, completely transformed because "these songs deserved more". Among these "Towards the light", whose interpretation will touch you particularly. Finally, "13 songs for the damned" is the subtitle of the work. Mankind, ready to take off towards divine knowledge, daily disgraces, research for independence and mental freedom are the main concept of the album.
Viking dedicated a song to Denis from the band Kolovrat, another to an Italian girl from the North, of which Viking does not remember the name, and there's a sort of dedication to the Italian pub "Cutty Sark", victim of explosion, on the booklet (there's a map of the tube and the only bold name of station you can read is "Cutty Sark").
Why London? Why Gloucester Road? Maybe it's passion for the town and for the tube. Viking is addicted to the old trains of the District Line. Everyone has got own insanities! The production is AshTree Records. It's hard to say whether it is a professional, semi-professional or a non-professional work (the "recording studio" is always Viking's "secret lab"). This album has no schemes for both mainstream and amateurish music. This album is independence!