Jump to content
aberdeen-music

Live At The Beach 4 - Nov 5th 2010


Recommended Posts

Guest idol_wild

Some words about Meursault:

Biography

Pronounced "Murr-So", Meursault are a collective based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Forming in 2005 as a solo outlet for Neil Pennycook, the line-up has slowly coalesced into a settled sextet of Pennycook, Fraser Calder, Chris Bryant, Callum McLeod, Phillip Quirie and Pete Harvey.

In 2006, a then 3-piece Meursault self-released an EP entitled "Making the Most of the Raw Materials of Futility" but it ended up being representative of a band who had yet to really get a feel for what they wanted to sound like and where they were going with their music. But by the time they released "Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues", first as a self-release in April 2008, then again on Song, by Toad Records in December of the same year, they had developed a very distinctive character based around a shifting interplay of electronic and traditional instruments.

Regular gig goers have probably experienced most of their songs played at both ends of this spectrum at some point, and pretty much anywhere in between. 'Small Stretch of Land' and 'William Henry Miller' seem (so far) to exist solely in the acoustic realm, but they are very much the exceptions. Everything else seems to exist equally comfortably as a simple acoustic folk song, or as a thunderous blast of impassioned electronica and almost any imaginable blend of the two, and this could easily describe the band themselves, who seem equally comfortable playing sets in either guise, and with a rotating cast, varying from Neil Pennycook playing small, intimate solo shows to a full 6-piece line-up, or anywhere inbetween.

With the 2009 release of acoustic EP "Nothing Broke", a companion to their debut album, that scope is now fully expressed in their releases as well. Their catalogue now showcases a group who can be as gently heartbreaking as they can wildly forceful, and it is difficult to know how best to tell people about them, but their versatility and willingness to experiment gives people a lot of ways to get into this band. The bands popularity and profile was enhanced thanks to recent sessions on Vic Galloways Radio One Scotland show and Marc Rileys BBC 6 Music show, aswell as a BBC Introducing session recorded at Maida Vale in April 2010.

Second full-length album, "All Creatures Will Make Merry" was released on Song, by Toad Records on May 31st, 2010. Distributed by Proper.

Following a successful three week tour of mainland Europe in April and May of 2010, the summer will see Meursault perform at many summer festivals including Walk The Line (Netherlands), Rockness (Scotland), Fusion (Germany), Glastonbury (England), T In The Park (Scotland), Truck (England), and End of the Road (England). In addition to this, November and December will see the band return to mainland Europe for another headline tour.

Selected Press

"Like fellow Scots Frightened Rabbit and the Twilight Sad, Meursault are ambassadors of misery, self-loathing, and huge, heart-heavy choruses. Most sad bastards can generate a modicum of optimism on January 1. But on "Crank Resolutions", the sadder bastards in Meursault declare, "I broke down on New Year's Day/ And I mixed my drinks/ And I lost my way," among hyperventilating electronic beats and pyrrhic victory shouts. It's enormous fun, of course, and I can't wait to see a live audience sob along to every word." | Pitchfork [7.9]

"Pennycook's urgent voice personifies the collision between the Reid brothers and Guy Garvey ... the results are compelling." | Mojo

"Completely absorbed and unselfconscious." | Word Magazine

"After a spin of this sublime record only one word will pass your lips: magnificent." | The Skinny

"Simultaneosly romantic, intensely bleak and wryly funny." | The Scotsman

"Meursault are, you know, new favourite band good." | Drowned in Sound

"All Creatures Will Make Merry announces Meursault as one of the best bands in Scotland. The musicianship and songwriting is outstanding. They are definitely a band that will keep you guessing and always produce something unexpected and exciting. Surely that is why we fall in love with bands such as Meursault." | Line of Best Fit

"Folk-inspired and electronically augmented, theres a quiet drama about Meursaults gloriously morose melodies which is matched by frontman Neil Pennycooks cracked, yelping tones." | Bearded Magazine

"The pulsating chimes of Crank Resolutions and Weathers sleepy acoustic echoes offer moments of more immediate beauty, whereas tracks like New Ruin or the bittersweet balladry of Sleet make for a slow-burning and truly engrossing listen." | Clash Music Magazine

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest idol_wild
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...