The Moulettes have a new single out soon! In a few weeks time, Uca’s Dance comes out, and it’s classic Moulettes – fiddles, close harmonies, and stomping rhythms. It also features the talents of one Ted Dwane
The band are having a launch for the single up in London on 24th November at The Tabernacle up in London. Book your tickets from Communion, and you could be in with a chance of winning the EP. Book 6 or more tickets, and you could be in with a chance of Moulettes playing a gig at your house. How amazing would that be?
If going all the way to London seems a bit of a trek, The Moulettes are playing at the Komedia on 21st November, supporting Arthur Brown.
There’s a whole load more information over on the Moulettes website.
This week sees the release of Moulettes’ second album The Bear’s Revenge. It’s been nearly two years since their eponymous debut, but it’s worth the wait. The Bear’s Revenge is an album with much wider appeal than than their first, better crafted with a more colourful tapestry of styles.
Back in April The Moulettes had their single launch at The Marlborough. Two months on, it’s about time they actually released it. Held back by a combination of trying to tie things in with their multitude of festival appearances, and pressing plant delays caused by bank holidays, Sing Unto Me finally hits the shops next monday.
Sing Unto Me is the lead single from the Moulettes new album The Bear’s Revenge. In a bit of a departure from most of their tracks, lead singer Hannah Miller takes on guitar rather than ‘cello duties, but the overall sound is very familiar – tight female harmonies sung in the round, and a folk rhythm section made up of guitar, fiddle, bodhran, and any other bits of percussion that come to hand as well as double bass from Ted Dwane from Mumford and Sons.
Being the generous sorts they are, the single comes with a bumper six tracks – as well as a single edit, there’s a remix, a cover by fellow Brightonians The Muel, and a handful of b-sides including live favourite Are You Going Away To Sea, which is probably the track that made me fall in love with them in the first place.
The band are going to have a very busy summer. If you happen to be at any of the following festivals, I heartily recommend you go and see them:
07/06 Irish Cultural Centre, Derry, Northern Ireland
08/06 Marlboro House, Bundoran, Donegal
09/06 ‘Gentlemen Of The Road’ Salthill Pk Galway – w/Mumford & Sons
10/06 The Slate, Cork – on at 5.30pm, *before* the football!
06/07 Nova Festival
21/7 Secret Garden Party – Three gigs in one day! 5pm @ Onetaste, 8-ish @ Small World, 11.30pm-ish @ Cut-A-Shine
This post is partly for me to remember exactly what I’m meant to be doing and when things are happening, but you can take it as a “Brighton Music Blog recommends…” if you like. It’s a collection of releases and happenings taking place over the next week or two, some of which might end up as full posts, if I get around to it.
Firstly, Soft Arrows have released their album “All Through The Sinew”. You can buy it download from Bandcamp here.
Next up is a couple of gigs in London, both on next thursday (31st). Two of my favourite bands – The Moulettes and Nordic Giants are launching their new material at shows at Bush Hall and Hoxton Hall respectively. Both promise to be fantastic events, but expensive bills for my car mean that I won’t be able to make either, sadly. At least that means I don’t have to choose between them.
The Moulettes gig is to launch their new album The Bear’s Revenge, which is out at the end of June. In advance of that, they’re releasing Sing Unto Me as the first single from the album on 4th June. The video is coming soon, so I’ll do a proper write up when I’m allowed to show it to you all. In the meantime, here’s a live performance of one of the many b-sides, a new track called Assault, which is very impressive indeed:
Talking of new singles, Jennifer Left also releases her new single on the 4th June. I’ve had a sneak preview of Black Dog, and it’s fantastic. It’s got whistling in it – not enough songs have whistling in them these days.
Finally, a couple more gigs to mention:
Bleeding Hearts are pushing the boat out slightly since it’s a Bank Holiday on 4th June – they’re starting a bit earlier at 7pm and have five acts rather than the normal three or four. Head along to the Prince Albert to hear Danny Kendall, Polyanna, Mary Hampton, Adrian Oxaal and Junior Electronics.
Then the following day (5th June), Com Truise is playing the Haunt. He’s not from Brighton, but support Anneka is, so I’ll be heading down to take some snaps and do them a write up too.
Going to a Moulettes gig is always a bit more special than going to a gig put on by most bands. Seeing a band live ought to be a bit more of a performance – if a band just stand there and run through their record, you might as well save your money and listen to the cd from the comfort of your sofa. The fact that this gig is at a theatre is a good start and walking into the venue, with the stage imaginatively decorated with an oversized tree with buttons for leaves and a mechanical cloud hanging, sets the scene for an interesting night.
Support came from the incredibly talented flautist Laura J Martin. She’s not from Brighton, so I going to move on quickly, but before I do I’ll say that if you get the opportunity to see her play live, then take it up because you’ll regret it if you don’t.
Hannah Miller of The Moulettes
Being a theatre, the stage curtains closed between acts. No one wants to see roadies moving kit around and gaffer taping leads down. It’s best to keep the mystique, especially if you’re a magical band like the Moulettes. Before long the curtains opened to reveal the group, who seem to be growing in numbers every time I see them play. In addition to existing members, they’ve also recruited Jim Mortimore (who also plays bass with sometime Moulettes collaborators The Muel), and Faye Houston (who you may have seen singing with numerous other Brighton bands). The set was comprised mostly of tracks from the bands forthcoming album The Bear’s Revenge, with only a handful of tracks from their debut. The new songs sit perfectly well alongside the old, but are more developed and less contrived – the band members swap instruments (which now include timpani!) and vocal duties are shared. Musically, the sound is richer and less contrived, and Georgina Leach’s fiddle playing now matches Hannah Miller’s cello to extraordinary effect. As if that wasn’t enough, halfway through the set they were joined on vocals by Arthur Brown, of Crazy World of… fame, who didn’t hold back although sadly wasn’t sporting his famous flaming helmet.
Arthur Brown singing with The Moulettes
Set closer was the new single Sing Unto Me. Did I mention that they have a new single? And that the gigs (they played on Thursday too) were the Single Launch? It’ll be out May 28th, with the album following a few weeks later (although you could have picked them up at the gig). The band return for a reluctant encore before the bidding us farewell, the curtains literally closing on a top night’s entertainment.
Exciting news this week – new videos from two of my favourite Brighton bands – Sweet Sweet Lies and The Moulettes.
Sweet Sweet Lies’ debut album is out in the spring (and has already had a four star review in Uncut). The lead single is called The Day I Change, and right now, you can only watch the video at NME.com. I’ll update the link once it’s more widely availably, but until then, click though here to take a look.
The Moulettes second album is on it’s way too, and they’ve just released the first taster – a track called Some Who You Love, which you can watch here:
Brighton Music Blog 