Subterranea

Newcastle-based electronic artist Bartholomew returns this summer with Subterranea, his most personal and cinematic release to date. Arriving July 25th, 2025 on Lunar Module, a new CD imprint from Castles in Space, the album delves deep into emotional terrain—fusing generative electronics, orchestral flourishes, and raw sonic textures into a poignant meditation on instability and resilience.

Following 2023’s Moorbound—a love letter to the Newcastle Town Moor that sold out its physical release in under 24 hours—Subterranea marks a turning inward. While Moorbound found grounding in the natural world, this new record confronts internal architecture: the disquiet of mental health struggles, personal upheaval, and the ever-shifting nature of equilibrium.

“I knew when I started Subterranea it was going to be about the value I assign to consistency and predictability in my life,” says Bartholomew. “But as the album took shape, my life was unraveling. What emerged was a more honest record—not just about balance, but about accepting its impermanence.” Across nine tracks, Bartholomew—real name Chris Bartholomew—draws on his background in theatrical composition (Barbican, National Theatre Studio), marrying cinematic storytelling with a palette that recalls the emotional resonance of Hans Zimmer, the granular textures of Tim Hecker, and the stark minimalism of Ben Frost. The result is a body of work that’s as vulnerable as it is technically accomplished.

The seeds of Subterranea were planted after a shared bill at Newcastle’s Cumberland Arms with Gordon Chapman-Fox (Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan). Impressed by the raw demo material, Chapman-Fox brought the project to Lunar Module, a label whose mission—charting inner worlds and emotional topographies—was an ideal fit. Previous releases have been praised for their “soothing and tranquil ... electronic wizardry” (Bebop Spoken Here) and “expertly honed collage” (NARC Magazine). With Subterranea, Bartholomew evolves his sound into something more exposed, more refined, and ultimately more human