Renowned producer, musician, and storyteller Mark Rae returns with The Seaburn Batlads, a chilling new single that blurs the lines between music and narrative. Released ahead of his multimedia project and accompanying album New Town Ghosts – Songs From The Novel By Mark Rae (out April 11th), the track is a hauntingly cinematic exploration of childhood terror, friendship, and the lingering shadows of memory.
The Seaburn Batlads is steeped in Rae’s personal history, inspired by a terrifying childhood encounter. “At 10, my friends and I were stealing golf balls when we passed a tent on a country road,” Rae recounts. “Its occupants emerged swinging a hammer, chasing us until they caught one of my friends.” The assailants, led by a trumpet-wielding boy named Lenny, dragged the children to their tent, where a witch-like girl spun eerie tales of trapped miners and restless spirits. The harrowing incident would go on to shape both Rae’s novel and the song itself, transforming childhood fear into a haunting musical narrative.
Sonically, The Seaburn Batlads merges folk-inspired storytelling with lush, expansive arrangements. Recorded across London, Tunbridge Wells, Manchester, and Liverpool, the track features contributions from over 40 world-class musicians, including Steve Wood’s VoxPop choir, strings, horns, and live instrumentation. Mixed by Erik Miles (Kate Nash, Soft Play), the result is a sprawling soundscape that captures both the beauty and the terror of childhood imagination.
The single is just a glimpse of the immersive experience that New Town Ghosts promises. The novel and album intertwine, exploring themes of childhood freedom, environmental change, neurodiversity, and the unseen forces of nature. “This project represents a high-water mark in my creative output,” says Rae. “I wanted to explore the innocence and wonder of growing up during the summer of 1976, set against the backdrop of a Northumbrian new town, where friendships and ghost stories collide.”
With The Seaburn Batlads, Mark Rae crafts a vivid sonic world where the past and present coexist, and where music breathes life into forgotten memories. It’s an ambitious, deeply personal work that solidifies Rae’s place as an artist unafraid to push creative boundaries — inviting listeners to lose themselves in a soundscape where ghosts roam and childhood legends come to life.
