Following acclaimed singles ‘Mere Slaughter’ and ‘Televangelist’, one of Birmingham’s most prolific bands of recent years, Mutes release their most raw, yet engrossing record to date. ‘…buried where you stand’, their upcoming 12-track fourth album, this May 17th, 2024.
Recorded almost entirely live as a three-piece at Megatone Studios with engineer Mark Gittins, for their fourth record the band stripped back the lavish technicolor method that defined their most recent albums – 2019’s Pareidolia and 2021’s Dreams of Being Cornered, and instead focused on the unfiltered immediacy found in their early work – whilst further finessing their ambiguous, genre-defying sonics. The band covers a wide range of styles, from the no-wave influenced ‘Mere Slaughter’ to the lilting psychedelia of ‘Perfumed Corpse’ and the ambient drones of ‘.cycles’, without compromising their unique artistry.
Having played with the likes of Cloud Nothings, The Cribs, Omni, Battles, No Age, and more, alongside their headline shows around the country, Mutes have honed their ‘post-everything’ sound via their staunch work ethic; always with the end goal of creating an immersive album that flies in the face of the current climate’s ephemeral, single-centric culture.
Ahead of the release of the album is the single Transparency, a concentrated dose of intoxicating, angular krautrock. The first track on the album, with the rattle of a snare drum clearly audible amidst the caterwaulic opening stabs of guitar, the stage is set for the unadulterated sonics of ‘…buried where you stand’. Unrelenting, alternately-tuned guitars cut through like a scythe, adorned with surrealistic musings on the ephemeral nature of the human form via a single distorted vocal. As the song swoons to its gentle middle-sway, Mutes’ polyamorous nature becomes apparent. From filter-combed no-wave noise to country-influenced slide guitars to motorik, fuzzed-out bliss; Mutes adopt all this and everything in-between as they pursue their singular goal of remaining unrestrained.
Discussing the track, James says: “‘Transparency’ was one of the last songs written for the record, but it was immediately apparent that it would become the opening track – it has a sense of purpose that encapsulates our work ethic. One of my favorite ways of writing music is to make up a new guitar tuning to render myself unable to default to typical chord shapes, and ‘Transparency’ is one of many songs on the album conceived this way. Lyrically it handles Western civilisation’s persistent avoidance of acknowledging the inevitability of death – that the most we can hope for is that the fatal decline is as drawn-out as possible (interspersed with dream-diary recollections of burnt human remains strewn down an infinite highway – pretty jovial stuff).”
‘…buried where you stand’ is due for release May 17th 2024 via No Sound Records and will be available on CD and all major streaming platforms.
‘Transparency’ is available on all major streaming platforms.
For further information on the band, please visit the following links:
- Website: https://mutesuk.bandcamp.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mutesuk
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mutesmutesmutes
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mutesmutesmutes
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