Cardiacs alumnus William D. Drake returns with his sixth album Moulded By Industry, due 9 October on Onomatopoeia Records. Echoes and Dust reviewer Zachary Nathanson, writing on 28 September 2026, describes the record as a beautiful, strange and deeply emotional journey that sets words from Thomas Ashe, 17th-century ballads and the Northamptonshire poet John Clare to music.

Eleven years after Revere Reach, Drake reunites with James Larcombe, Dean Gaisburgh-Watkyrn and Steve Jackson, joined by singer Treana Morris. The album opens with the Beatles-esque lullaby 'The Flickering Shade' — also released as a single with an official video — and moves through country-folk textures, Mellotron-drenched passages and vaudevillian sing-alongs. Nathanson highlights 'Turtledove' for its Genesis-like pastoral psychedelia, 'A Vision' for its Philip Glass/Steve Reich minimalism, and the nightmarish 'Bliss Again' with its Mellotron flutes. Drake's steampunk Victorian atmosphere and Peter Hammill-like intensity remain intact.

The review stresses that Drake does not merely replicate vintage sounds but reassembles them on his own terms: stereo imaging is restrained, textures feel organic, and the overall sound leans toward home-recording intimacy. Moulded By Industry is available for pre-order on Bandcamp and via Onomatopoeia Records.