Meursault (band)
Encyclopedia
Meursault are an alternative indie band from Edinburgh
, Scotland
, led by singer-songwriter Neil Pennycook. Their musical style has been variously categorised as folktronica
, alternative rock
and indie folk
. The band themselves have described their most recent work as "epic lo-fi".
The name of the band is a reference to the main character of L'Etranger
, the famous novel of Albert Camus
.
The band are noted for their use of traditional acoustic instruments such as guitar
, banjo
, harmonium
and ukulele
, accompanied by electronic sounds and beats generated by drum machines, samplers
and synthesisers. Pennycook possesses a powerful singing voice, which, in combination with the unorthodox instrumentation, lends the band a distinctive sound.
Their releases to date have been generally well received by the music and entertainment media, both in Scotland and on a nationwide level. In 2009 The Skinny placed the band's debut album, Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues
at #16 in their "Scottish Albums of the Decade" list; while their second full-length release, All Creatures Will Make Merry
, has been reviewed favourably by a number of notable media outlets, including The BBC
, Pitchfork
, Bearded
, Clash
, The List
and The Skinny
.
During 2009 and 2010, the band were included in regular rotation on local and national BBC
radio stations, and playlisted by a number of BBC presenters including Gideon Coe
, Marc Riley
, Vic Galloway
and Nemone
. They also announced that their schedule for the 2010 festival season would include appearances at RockNess, T In The Park
, Truck
, End Of The Road
and Glastonbury
.
, on the outskirts of Edinburgh
in Scotland
.
The band self-released their debut album, Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues
, in 2008, before a second run was released on the Edinburgh-based independent label, Song, By Toad Records, in 2009.
In 2009, Phillip Quirie and Pete Harvey joined the band, with Pennycook stating that "the highlight [of the year] would have to be Phil and Pete joining the band. I’ve followed both of them, in their various projects, for what feels like years, and can’t believe how lucky I am to have the chance to work them both".
The band's second album, All Creatures Will Make Merry
was released on Song, By Toad Records as a limited edition handmade CD available to guests at launch events in Glasgow and Edinburgh in early April 2010, prior to a full national release on 24 May 2010.
The band have played numerous concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in 2009 embarked on their first nationwide tours. In early 2010, the band announced that their first European tour would take place during April and May of that year.
In late 2009, Neil Pennycook and Peter Harvey contributed to the Cold Seeds
collaborative album along with Frances Donnelly (Animal Magic Tricks) and Kenny Anderson (King Creosote
). Anderson, Donnelly and Pennycook all wrote songs for the project, which all four performers then recorded together.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, led by singer-songwriter Neil Pennycook. Their musical style has been variously categorised as folktronica
Folktronica
Folktronica or electrofolk is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring samplings of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—and incorporating hip hop rhythms...
, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and indie folk
Indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...
. The band themselves have described their most recent work as "epic lo-fi".
The name of the band is a reference to the main character of L'Etranger
The Stranger (novel)
The Stranger or The Outsider is a novel by Albert Camus published in 1942. Its theme and outlook are often cited as examples of existentialism, though Camus did not consider himself an existentialist; in fact, its content explores various philosophical schools of thought, including absurdism, as...
, the famous novel of Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
.
The band are noted for their use of traditional acoustic instruments such as guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
and ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, accompanied by electronic sounds and beats generated by drum machines, samplers
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
and synthesisers. Pennycook possesses a powerful singing voice, which, in combination with the unorthodox instrumentation, lends the band a distinctive sound.
Their releases to date have been generally well received by the music and entertainment media, both in Scotland and on a nationwide level. In 2009 The Skinny placed the band's debut album, Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues
Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues
-Cultural references:* Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit has often performed A Small Stretch Of Land; taken from Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues and written by Neil Pennycook, during his live appearances....
at #16 in their "Scottish Albums of the Decade" list; while their second full-length release, All Creatures Will Make Merry
All Creatures Will Make Merry
-Personnel:-Meursault:*Chris Bryant*Fraser Calder*Peter Harvey*Calum MacLeod*Neil Pennycook*Philip Quirie*Gavin Tarling-External links:* *...
, has been reviewed favourably by a number of notable media outlets, including The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Pitchfork
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, Bearded
Bearded (magazine)
Bearded is a bi-monthly music magazine that distributes nationwide through WHSmith, Borders, independent record shops and newsagents. The magazine covers the independent music industry and only reviews artists who are either unsigned or signed to independent record labels.Bearded is known for its...
, Clash
Clash (magazine)
Clash is a popular music and fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom. Its magazine title is published 12 times a year. It has a circulation of around 40,000....
, The List
and The Skinny
.
During 2009 and 2010, the band were included in regular rotation on local and national BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio stations, and playlisted by a number of BBC presenters including Gideon Coe
Gideon Coe
Gideon "The Guv'nor" Coe is a radio DJ, presenter, sportscaster, voiceover artist and journalist.Coe was one of the child presenters of the BBC 1 children's programme "Why Don't You?"....
, Marc Riley
Marc Riley
Marc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
, Vic Galloway
Vic Galloway
Michael "Vic" Galloway is a DJ on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 1, Vic presents a self-titled show on Radio Scotland every Monday from 8:05pm-10pm and does the BBC Introducing Scotland Radio 1 programme Wednesday evenings/Thursday mornings from 12:00-2:00am...
and Nemone
Nemone
Nemone Metaxas is a British DJ, Radio Presenter, Television Presenter/Producer and former athlete of Greek descent.Her family's Greek ancestral village is in Sekhia and the family name is `Anastasakis'....
. They also announced that their schedule for the 2010 festival season would include appearances at RockNess, T In The Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...
, Truck
Truck Festival
Truck Festival is an annual independent music festival in Oxfordshire, England. It was started in 1998 by the Bennett family , who decided that mainstream festivals such as Glastonbury had become too commercial and predictable. It is held in July at Hill Farm in Steventon, near Abingdon...
, End Of The Road
End Of The Road Festival
End of the Road Festival is an annual music festival in England which focuses on alternative music, mostly folk, alt.country and Americana. It is hosted at the Larmer Tree Gardens, on the border of north Dorset and Wiltshire, and usually takes place over the first or second full weekend in...
and Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
.
History
Meursault were formed when singer-songwriter Neil Pennycook began performing with friends from his hometown of PenicuikPenicuik
Penicuik is a burgh and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. The town was developed as a planned village in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867. The town was well known for its paper mills, the last of which closed in 2005....
, on the outskirts of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The band self-released their debut album, Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues
Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues
-Cultural references:* Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit has often performed A Small Stretch Of Land; taken from Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues and written by Neil Pennycook, during his live appearances....
, in 2008, before a second run was released on the Edinburgh-based independent label, Song, By Toad Records, in 2009.
In 2009, Phillip Quirie and Pete Harvey joined the band, with Pennycook stating that "the highlight [of the year] would have to be Phil and Pete joining the band. I’ve followed both of them, in their various projects, for what feels like years, and can’t believe how lucky I am to have the chance to work them both".
The band's second album, All Creatures Will Make Merry
All Creatures Will Make Merry
-Personnel:-Meursault:*Chris Bryant*Fraser Calder*Peter Harvey*Calum MacLeod*Neil Pennycook*Philip Quirie*Gavin Tarling-External links:* *...
was released on Song, By Toad Records as a limited edition handmade CD available to guests at launch events in Glasgow and Edinburgh in early April 2010, prior to a full national release on 24 May 2010.
The band have played numerous concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in 2009 embarked on their first nationwide tours. In early 2010, the band announced that their first European tour would take place during April and May of that year.
In late 2009, Neil Pennycook and Peter Harvey contributed to the Cold Seeds
Cold Seeds
Cold Seeds is a musical collaboration between Kenny Anderson , Frances Donnelly , and Neil Pennycook and Peter Harvey of Meursault....
collaborative album along with Frances Donnelly (Animal Magic Tricks) and Kenny Anderson (King Creosote
King Creosote
Kenny Anderson, known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest, Thrawn, released in 2011. Anderson is also a member of Scottish-Canadian band, The Burns Unit...
). Anderson, Donnelly and Pennycook all wrote songs for the project, which all four performers then recorded together.
Albums
- Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With TonguesPissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues-Cultural references:* Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit has often performed A Small Stretch Of Land; taken from Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues and written by Neil Pennycook, during his live appearances....
(2008) - All Creatures Will Make MerryAll Creatures Will Make Merry-Personnel:-Meursault:*Chris Bryant*Fraser Calder*Peter Harvey*Calum MacLeod*Neil Pennycook*Philip Quirie*Gavin Tarling-External links:* *...
(2010)
Singles
- William Henry Miller Pt.1/The Dirt & the Roots (2009)
- William Henry Miller Pt.2/A Few Kind Words (2009)