This
is the third album from Mole Harness, following the acclaimed
‘a present from the future’. Whilst the latter
was painstakingly crafted and conceived as a whole, the
writing process of this follow-up was much quicker, freer
and more spontaneous, leading to a more varied work.
‘a
present…’ was constructed entirely from guitar
sounds, and whereas all the melodic elements of ‘…pathway’
are still made from guitars, the processed tones are more
varied in their timbre, and are also augmented by the return
of more rhythmic and purely textural elements. This shift
is illustrated by ‘fallout census man’, with
its cut-up CD skips and radio static, as well as ‘a
feast for regret’ with its shuffling guitar-body percussion
and skittering drum machine hi-hats.
‘foothills
of the informant’ and ‘fallout census man’
also show Brewster’s guitar playing at its most fluid
and expressive so far. Freed from layered structures, the
characteristics of a single guitar are now allowed to become
the focus of a piece.
An
increasingly minimalist approach defines much of the album.
‘the sunless pool and home’ is based around
a group of melodic sequences drifting apart from each other,
recombining from one chord progression into another. The
structure of ‘a feast for regret’ was initially
inspired by playing two completely different tracks over
the top of each other at random. The original track develops
normally for five minutes, before another one enters and
they struggle for dominance, switching priority at a crucial
moment. Once this first section ends, elements of both tracks
then gradually re-emerge, this time uniting in a 15 minute
sequence of overlapping melodic themes, evolving phrase
cycles and hypnotic drones.
In mid 2006 Brewster moved to Malmö in Sweden, so ‘out
of the walled pathway’ was the last Mole Harness album
to be written entirely in Bristol, UK, the city where he
first started making music five years ago.
The
CD comes in a black card sleeve, with cover photograph by
Cecilia Ek.
Limited
to 150 copies, sold out.
Read
reviews
Next
release
Back
to main discography