Following the original, digital only, release of Goat’s score for ‘The Gallows Pole’ TV series, we are now thrilled to announce an expanded, ltd edition vinyl version, which will be released as part of Record Store Day 2024. ‘The Gallows Pole’ is a three-part Element Pictures production, written and directed by Shane Meadows which was aired in the UK on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. This new vinyl version of the ‘The Gallows Pole: Original Score’ differs from the previous digital release as it now only features the music which was specifically written for the series itself – it doesn’t include the three, previously released back catalogue tracks. Instead, this vinyl edition contains three ‘unused/unreleased’ tracks: ‘Goat Witch’, ‘Timeless Awareness’ and ‘Kampsång (Instrumental)’.

These tracks have not, up-to-now, been heard by anyone apart from Shane Meadows himself. The themes and imagery of Benjamin Myers’ source novel are the perfect fit for Goat’s mystical, pagan aesthetic. The story, based in rural 18th century Yorkshire, tells a fictionalised, psychedelic tale based on the true story of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners, which became the biggest fraud in British history. Rather than 'writing to picture' in the traditional way, Goat approached the creative process differently, explaining: “In the beginning, we would get inspiration just through reading the book, trying to get a sense of its vibration and then translate that into music, with passages from the book as a springboard for the initial jams.”

Goat were already fans of Meadows’ work, in particular ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ and the various iterations of ‘This Is England’, and understood the importance of music to him, noting that: “Music is a central part to everything Shane has created” and describing the opportunity as a “blessing” when they were approached about the project. Working on the score for ‘The Gallows Pole’ also provided an ongoing inspiration for Goat, resulting in the germs of music that formed the bands most recent album, the critically acclaimed ‘Medicine’. “Although it may seem an abstract or unorthodox way to work with film, a lot of interesting new ideas and music came out of those sessions that went beyond just the score.” said the band.

Sometimes, the results of musical exploration are best heard (and seen). As Goat themselves conclude, “music is never easily explained with words”.