PO Box 3400, Brighton, BN1 4WG
Reg No:03465391 Vat: 726179126
Tel: 01273 747433 / Fax: 01273 777718
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múm
‘they made frogs smoke til they exploded’
Formats: 7”/Digital
Release Date: 27th August 2007
Cat #’s: 7FAT31 / DS7FAT31
Barcodes:6-00116-07317-4 / 06-00116-07315-0
Distribution: Vital
It's been over 3 years since the release of múm's last album 'Summer make good' and a lot of water has passed under the bridge. And now finally, everything at once; a new single, album, a smattering of dates over the Summer months, and tour dates all over the world beginning in Autumn. 'they made frogs smoke 'til they exploded'is the first fruits of their labour to be unveiled, a chirpy song about animal cruelty. 'the amateur show', on the flip-side is according to the band, a wonky insect-circus instrumental. The single precedes mum’s fourth studio album to date, the strangely titled 'go go smear the poison ivy', a colourful, twitching playful work of art, full of life affirming energy.
Eschewing an otherworldly, almost magical aura, múm makeexperimental music that’s naturally, effortlessly imbued with a pop sensibility. Sonically warm, gorgeously rich and melodic, the band use an array of instruments (guitars, bass, drums, synths, laptops, cello, accordion, mutated brass, and mouth trumpet to name a few) alongside crisply programmed electronic washes, beats and bleeps, blurring the distinction between live band and electronic programming.Many of the sounds in ' they made frogs smoke'til they exploded' are film cut-ups from home 16mm films, east european documentaries and old cartoons.
With the departure of Kristín Valtýsdóttir at the beginning of the creative process, the core of múm is again down to the original duo of founding members Gunnar and Örvar, but the band itself is now larger than ever, counting in all seven people. Bridging the gap between their universally acclaimed debut, and their more expansive, sonically detailed recent output, the bands new materialdraws from a hugely diverse pool of musical expertise, running the gamut of emotions and displaying an array of of influences almost too disparate to mention.Expansive and ambitious but never obtuse or excluding, the current line-up has an unforced collaborative approach that yields fresh and exciting results.Samuli Kosminen (also of Kluster), is an explorer of flea-market percussion, old electronic fx, and beat making toys, and has discovered new and strange dimensions of rhythm. Ólöf Arnalds recently released her debut solo album in Iceland, delighting and surprising critics with her emotional delivery of heartfelt, simple songs. Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson (a touring member of Sigur Rósand Benni Hemm Hemm) has been a key collaborator with múm since very early on and co-writes several songs here.Hildur Guðnadóttir is a trained cellist, a performer with boiling energy who recently released her first cello album "Mount. A" who has collaboratedwith Schneider TM and Ilpo Väisänen of Pan Sonic as well as Throbbing Gristle. Sigurlaug Gísladóttir or mr.Silla is the most recent addition to the band, and has been gaining much attention in Iceland for her soloand collaborative performances.
These new songs were recorded at a variety of locations, including the music school in the small fishingtown of Ísafjörður in the west fjords of iceland, where the band made use of the schools various instruments. Coincidentally, the drums were also recorded in an old school house, on the island of Nötö west of Finland. The songs were conceived over a long period in many a different fashion, with one song even dating back to the period of 'yesterday was dramatic, today is OK’ – perhaps a significant pointer or touchstone for this new LP, certainly in tone if not execution, the production being as rich, and with as much depth as anything in their canon.
The strange, almost eerie artwork for 'go go smear the poison ivy', and ‘they made frogs smoke…’ is by Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, who also animated the video for the single.
An incredibly accomplished live entity, mum are set to play the following Summer festival dates:
02 Jun - ATP stage - Primavera Festival, Barcelona, Spain
09 Jun - Villette Sonique Festival, Paris, France
17 Jul - La Mer De Musicas Festival, Murcia, Spain
24 Jul - Sync Festival, Athens, Greece
28 Jul - Afisha Festival, Moscow, Russia
For Further information contact