I hope that octopus isn't to scale. Yikes.
Mothertongue is a six-piece band: Phil Dixon (guitar), Will Holden (bass and sax), Andy Malbon (trumpet and cornet), John Simm (no relation) (drums and synths), Louis Smith (lead vocals, guitar and synths), and Mark Wall (guitar, strings and synths), with the whole band contributing backing vocals here and there. When Unsongs was released, they'd been bubbling under the radar since a digital-only album in 2012, and working on new material since then - the new album, their first CD release, was the product of four years' writing, recording, and assorted machinations.
Before we go on, I'd like you to listen to this track. Go on. It's not even three minutes.
Nope, there were no instruments there aside from brass, drums, and vocals.
This kind of wildly experimental nature is exactly what makes Mothertongue tick.
On their official website, Mothertongue call themselves "progressive-indie-rock-jazz-quiff-pop". That's entirely too many words, right? Right. But you can see why. You couldn't really describe this music with one neat label. A few reviews have called it a pop album, and there are certainly poppy elements, but I think that descriptor alone does it a slight disservice.
Give 'King of the Tyrant Lizards' a spin. (Then try to get "I'll work the pedals and the devil can steer!" out of your head. I still haven't, and it's been almost two years. Then the multi-part micro-epic that is 'Nautilus', Japanese oompah segment and all - and if that combination of words fills you with dread, I guarantee this song will change your mind. Genre kind of falls flat here. The best word to describe Mothertongue's music is "Mothertongue". Yes, that's an adjective now, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Unsongs is an explosion of bold, carefree (but not careless!) brass and controlled vocal power, bombastic and powerful and only overblown when it can get away with it. Even traditionally mellower instruments like the acoustic guitar cut through the soundscape and stand out. It grabs your attention from the first bar and it will not let go.
Critics were fond of Unsongs even if they didn't always know what to make of it. The Progressive Aspect's Roger Trenwith stressed that it was a "FUN" (yes, in all caps) album and noted his enjoyment of the "labyrinthine twists and turns", while Jody Dunstan said straightforwardly enough in his review that "it really is bloody good". David Rickinson of Progradar called Unsongs "a really rather wonderful progressive pop album", and you can't really say fairer than that.
We'll be able to tell you what the boys have been up to since Unsongs soon enough. In the meantime, grab your copy here.
Status Update
We're close to Close to Vapour now! It's out on Friday, so now's close to your last chance to preorder if you want to make sure you get your copy as soon as possible.
In other exciting news, BEM was namedropped in print recently. Jerry Ewing's new opus, Wonderous Stories - A Journey Through the Landscape of Progressive Rock, is fresh off the presses, and we couldn't help but notice three very familiar words in this passage right here...
Review Roundup
Tom Slatter popped up in The Progressive Aspect this week, as Phil Lively conducted a review-cum-interview on Murder and Parliament and judged it "an altogether new and exciting direction". That's Tom for you. Full of exciting directions.
And, if you've been on the fence about Close to Vapour so far, perhaps this glowing Rebel Noise review, declaring that "there isn’t a moment within it that doesn’t satisfy", will sway you?
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