Runner’s High is a thoughtfully optimistic album of ambient, psychedelic, American Kosmiche music by Pneumatic Tubes, aka Jesse Chandler, keyboard and woodwinds player for Midlake and Mercury Rev. It’s a double album with the main event Runner’s High accompanied by the more ambient Warm Up & Cool Down. The latter is intended to be of genuine use for pre and post run sessions or as a guided meditation.

Chandler is a master of his instruments, both as an accomplished composer and free improviser. Joining him on this outing are:

Paul Alexander (formerly of Midlake): Runner’s High album mixer & bass on KM1/Daybreak, Yellow Green and Gold, Motion Kontrol, Jogger John

Meg Baird (formerly of Espers): vocals on Yellow Green and Gold

Jim Jupp (Belbury Poly): Warm Up & Cool Down album mixer & synth on Shavasana

Martin Keith: pedal steel guitar on Jogger John

João Branco Kyron (Beautify Junkyards): co-writer, vocals and synth on Motion Kontrol

Ben Sloan: drums & percussion on Yellow Green and Gold, Motion Kontrol, Lisbon Blues, Jogger John

Tim Smith (Harp, formerly of Midlake): co-writer, vocals, acoustic guitar & synth on Yellow Green and Gold

Inspiration:

“I go out running almost every day, my favourite runs are always when I’m on a tour and can go out and explore whichever place I’m in.” says Chandler, describing the way he keeps body and soul together under the demands of life on the road.

The idea for the record came about on one of these “Run-seeing” excursions and was inspired by his late father’s running journals. He was a part of the running boom that was an off-shoot of the nascent health and well-being movement of the 1970s.

Chandler explains the very real runner’s high phenomenon, “It usually kicks in around 4 to 5 miles into a run and at that point it feels like whatever you’re doing is effortless, like you’ve achieved some sort of exhilarating meditative state where nothing hurts or aches, your body is moving like a machine and you almost feel like you could go on forever. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does it’s a very special feeling.”

The Format:

The golden yellow LP version comes in a gatefold sleeve that includes the companion ambient album Warm Up & Cool Down on CD, it also includes a free download code card. The CD version comes as a double CD Digipack. Artwork is by Jim Jupp and liner notes by Justin Hopper (spoken word performer and author of Old Weird Albion).