Imagine all human beings swept off the face of the earth, excepting one man. Imagine this man in some vast city, New York or London. Imagine him on the third or fourth day of his solitude sitting in a house and hearing a ring at the door-bell!

Thomas Bailey Aldrich, 1903.

Frederic Brown subsequently re-presented a refined version in 1948, which he may or may not have written: “The last man alive sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door …”

A complete story in two sentences. A magic trick. Brown says its horror rests in his(?) ellipsis. But is there something also to be said for the cheeriness of Aldrich’s ringing doorbell: after days entombed in a vast, empty city ... who knows? Let’s find out.

£12

Available on CD, cassette or special edition box set.

“And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

Fate is indifferent. It is neither unkind nor unjust. Nevertheless, it has left us here to tell you the stories of the dead and the defeated. You will have your own tales, no doubt, which occupy your thoughts at the most unexpected of times, but this is our testimony which we hope to share with you.

Without the dread of grief and death, there cannot be the the ecstasy of joy and innocence unbridled. One holds a mirror to the other. And, be that as it may, we can avoid none of it so let us proceed together. Let us speak of such things.

£10

Shrink-wrapped, factory-pressed CD in jewel case, with 20 page booklet with lyrics. Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Rest a while with The Sighs of Monsters.

Lie on your back. Stare at the ceiling. Turn up the volume.

Sink into the dark interior of your mind where half-forgotten, half suppressed emotions lie in wait like a beast conjured of childhood joys and fears. Let beautiful lies soothe your savage heart.

Or, get up and dance as if the rain will never return unless you make it, right now.

Let Lie reach out and pull you towards it.

This is how music touches us. These are the cries of life, death and rebirth: the vivid kaleidoscope of sound and fury of The Sighs of Monsters.

£8

Shrink-wrapped, factory-pressed CD in jewel case, with 20 page booklet with lyrics. Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

If you ever wondered why you stopped immersing yourself in music and wish you could again, this album is for you.

Ground is a collection of eleven songs that cohere, and whose themes and characteristics are felt to conjointly evoke the title.

The songs have been arranged in a sequence designed to present a dramatic and satisfying whole. They total 42 minutes and 24 seconds, which would fit neatly onto one side of a c90 tape.

Just about halfway through it feels like the right time to refill your glass.

It is the first album by The Sighs of Monsters.

£8

Shrink-wrapped, factory-pressed CD in jewel case, with 16 page booklet with lyrics. Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.