The Deccan Traps – The Deccan Traps 2025

Neil Fairclough, Lois Fairclough, John Dagnall, Neil Edwards, Andy Treacey and Johnny Heyes met at Manchester Music College in early 1990s. In addition to becoming lifelong friends, they have worked together on and off ever since. The Deccan Traps project began when Neil F, Lois and John started writing songs together over a decade ago. As Lois is Neil’s sister and now John’s wife, the chemistry was immediate.

Between them, they had a shared passion for Rock, Funk, Jazz and Classical music, having grown up listening to everything from Queen and Rainbow to Stevie Wonder and Weather Report, to Mozart and Prokofiev. However, they were writing epic Rock songs and wanted to create an brilliant Rock band with the guys to do the music justice; not only to record but to play live. Only one thing missing… Ricardo!Big songs needed a big singer; enter Ricardo Afonso. Ricardo was born in Angola, Africa but grew up in Portugal. After singing in local bands, he made the move to London to take up the lead role of Galileo in Queen’s musical We Will Rock You at the Dominion theatre, London and blitzed the role of Judas in Andrew Lloyd Webbers Rock Musical Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican.Neil had been the touring bass player for Queen + Adam Lambert since 2011, a position he still occupies today. Through some mutual friends, Neil reached out to Ricardo and following a meeting in a back street pub in London, it was immediately obvious that Ricardo was not only a phenomenal vocalist but also the musical soulmate that they were looking for. The Deccan Traps was born.Dream of a Thousand Nights is the centrepiece of the album which shows that when two opposing sides will not yield, when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, chaos ensues.The song features an epic guitar fanfare and an introspective, bluesy guitar solo played by none other than Queen legend, Brian May. Brian also contributes his voice to beautifully narrate one of the most iconic passages from cosmologist Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech at the closing of the song. TDT were delighted to have the words authorised by Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan’s wife and cosmological partner. Release date: November 21, 2025

1. Sun & Moon 4:36
2. Chain Me (To The Wall) 4:29
3. Spellbound 4:51
4. Until You Love Me 4:46
5. The Great Divide 6:47
6. Are You Ready To Rock 2:48
7. Moonlight 4:38
8. Live It Up 4:29
10. Beautiful 3:25
11. Dream Of A Thousand Nights 10:10
12. All You Need 4:45
13. Beautiful (The Salford Session Live) 3:25
14. Spellbound (The Salford Session Live) 4:49