"The sparks come raining from the clouds"
The first time I heard Tivoli by the UK/ Japan quintet Merry Christmas with it's fervent double time acoustic guitar rhythms and hyper-kinetic boy girl vox, with melodies like a grade school opera, I felt gleeful like I had a heady intoxicating drink while watching a good cartoon. Maybe it was the askew lyrics full of whimsy, or the child like sense of too many sugary drinks or the drama but it felt wildly different and then, well... it ended in a flash.
Merry Christmas with their math pop / art pop folk aesthetic recently released their debut album "The Night The Night Fell" (dropped Aug. 1st, 2020), a 42 minute mind altering journey that "draws the listener into the unconscious journey of a girl who has tragically fallen into a coma" and Tivoli is the redemptive closer. The album was recorded and mixed in Tokyo by Paul Anthony Medrano and mastered by Grammy award-winning mastering engineer Alan Douches at West West Side Music in New York (Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear).
Merry Christmas is Ben George (Guitar, vocals, viola, omnichord, saw), Matthew John Thoren (Drums, percussion, vocals), Joe-Joe Moran-Douglas (Bass, vocals), Yuki Nishimura (Synth, vocals, percussion) and Yurie “Barihi” Yamaguchi (Trombone, glockenspiel, percussion, vocals).
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
spotify
apple
soundcloud
youtube
bandcamp
New Album: The Night The Night Fell is a boundary-smashing adventure in indie math pop.
The Night The Night Fell, the much anticipated debut album by the UK/ Japan quintet Merry Christmas, is set to be released on Aug 1st, 2020. From the discordant chants of the twisting opener “Superghost” to the fuzzfolk redemption inspiring closer “Tivoli”, the album draws the listener into the unconscious journey of a girl who has tragically fallen into a coma. The lyrical and sonic atmosphere progresses throughout the 42-minute adventure over 12 tracks - from absolute despair to defiant celebration as her story, realizations and dreams unfold. The album was recorded and mixed in Tokyo by Paul Anthony Medrano and mastered by Grammy award-winning mastering engineer Alan Douches at West West Side Music in New York (Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear). The band are absolutely elated with the results and can’t wait to share the story with the world.
About Us: Merry Christmas are a ten-legged festive wonder tank from Tokyo, Japan. They blend elements of fuzz folk, math rock, and pop into melodic hooks which are contagiously catchy but impossible to assign to a single existing genre. Ben George (fmr: Cats and Cats and Cats, Glastonbury 2006) Matthew Thoren (fmr: Placebo Sound, “Three Lights” Soundtrack, Berlin Film Festival 2017) and Joe-Joe Moran-Douglas (fmr: At Risk) were brought together in 2012 through a mutual love of Neutral Milk Hotel, and after recruiting Yuki Nishimura and Yurie “Barihi” Yamaguchi (fmr. Lazs) the band quickly developed an underground following in Tokyo. Their first EP, The Flying Trombone Sisters (2014), solidified their fuzz-folk sound and strengthened their fanbase. The following releases Rattattattattat (2016) and Dark Forest Be Gone (2018) saw Merry Christmas expanding into new territory and playing Japan’s renowned RingoFes (2018) alongside Of Montreal and Taiwan’s Elephant Gym.
More Information:
Merry Christmas are a ten-legged festive wonder tank from Tokyo. 東京のバンド、メリークリスマスです!Our songs blend elements of fuzz folk, math rock and pop into a unique, often raucous collection of songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment