Variety Lights has been played on NTS shows including The Cosmic Principle w/ Nick Mitchell Maiato, with Establishment first played on 24 August 2022.

After leaving the public spotlight more than 18 years ago, Baker returns with his collaborator, Will MacLean, to debut the remarkable psychedelic-synth album Central Flow. Release date is June 12, 2012.

As a founding member and vocalist for Mercury Rev, Baker helped to forge their revolutionary sound with their first two (and most critically acclaimed) albums; Yerself Is Steam (1991) and Boces (1993).

Having left the band in 1993, Baker went on to release a solo album World under the moniker Shady, which featured members of the Boo Radleys, Rollerskate Skinny, Swervedriver and Th’ Faith Healers.

Although there has been much speculation about his life during his time away from the public eye, Baker has continued to make recordings and is an avid music fan, working as a producer for various artists. Now he is back, morphed and transmogrified into Variety Lights (a name lifted from Fellini’s first film).

When he met Will MacLean, Baker found a songwriting partner who shared a passion for analogue synths and electronic psychedelia. Initial experimentation together live to tape – to see how big and crazy just the two of them could sound – started to reveal melodies and Variety Lights was born.

Much of Variety Lights’ debut Central Flow was recorded by Baker at his own Over the Trees studio. The sound was created using a mixture of chained around-the-room 80’s era midi expanders as well as the duo’s collection of vintage keyboards and combining them with an array of drum machines and effected guitars.