Daniel Land & The Modern Painters grew out of Manchester's gay clubbing scene. Land and guitarist Graeme Meikle met on Canal Street and started writing songs in 2002 on a four-track at Land's home. 'Codeine' is one of those earliest songs, held back for years until they could record it properly for their album Love Songs For The Chemical Generation (Saint Cecilia, November 2009). That's a 12-track shoegaze record of character sketches from Manchester's gay scene, with literary nods to T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Wordsworth. German electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss worked on two of its tracks, adding synths and effects. Land has since put out music under his own name, including the charity singles 'Snowdrops' (April 2026) and 'Marsha' (July 2026), with a new album announced for early 2027.
From the notes for Episode 11 · fact-checked Oct 4, 2026.
