Following on from their 111-song debut album, MEN (2013), and its considerably shorter follow-up, 11 Shades Of Love (2015), Quiet Marauder's third full album The Crack And What It Meant is released on the 26th of April on Bubblewrap Collective is a conceptual narrative collaboration with Mathias Kom of Canadian indie-pop wordsmiths The Burning Hell.
The Crack And What It Meant describes the emergence of a 'Crack' in time and space in the rural suburbs of Kent and the subsequent social panics, economic posturing, divisional blame games and global belief systems that arrive as a consequence. Narrated by the deep drawl of Kom, the album's 30 tracks veer between short War Of The World synthscapes, pop-folk balladry, post-ironic show tunes and shuffling indie-rock; all tied together by the multiple underlying storylines. These include the death (and rebirth) of science, mass media antagonists, the ambivalent progress of global capitalism, the opening (and closure) of The Crack's Costa Coffee franchise and the rise (and fall) of tramp-turned-soothsayer Daniel alongside his burgeoning, prospering belief system. Band leader Simon M. Read explains some of the decision-making process:
"We wanted to create a story that, while more or less making sense in its own right, could be metaphorically applied elsewhere. The writing process has been ongoing for about four years and it started as a really convoluted break-up album but, even more weirdly, has become just as applicable to Brexit, political division, absolutism and the distrust of expertise. It got quite heavy. And confusing. We had to research economic glossaries and government spending on tanks. And Kent-based tourist attractions - big props to Westgate Gardens!"
Intertwining the complex high-concepts and broad instrumentation of Arcade Fire, with the warm, spiky melodicism of The Wave Pictures and the wide-eyed, quick-witted lyricism of Vivian Stanshall, The Crack And What It Meant will be released on 26th April 2019 as a limited edition CD with illustrated booklet and cut-out sleeve.
Tracklisting
It Arrived In Silence
The Discovery
The Wheel's First Inertia
The Panic
A Bit Too Familiar
Wouldn't This Make A Great Episode Of..?
Economics Of Opportunity
The Executive Summary
We Need More Signage And Merchandise
Ministry Of Defence
Sheesh! The Military Are Expensive
Logic Chases Tail
What Happened To Science?
Let's not Talk About The Future
The Word On The Street
How To Make A Million Truths
17. The Birth Of Daniel
18. Daniel Dreams Of Other Dimensions
19. Revolutions In Religion
20. The Old Faith Was Misplaced
21. The New Believers
22. Widespread Reportage
23. We Came In Droves...
24. Science Steps Forth
25. And Then Empiricism Said 'No'
26. The Stragglers
27. I Came Here to cure my baldness
(But All I Got Was This T-shirt)
28. Rusty Signs, Dwindling Crowds
29. Blessed Are The Discredited
30. The Crack And What It Meant
The album will be preceded by singles The Discovery and What Happened To Science? In March 2019 and will be launched in Cardiff's Tiny Rebel on the 24th of June with a UK tour following alongside The Burning Hell.
Tour Dates
June 24th - Cardiff - Tiny Rebel
June 25th - Brighton - Hope and Ruin
June 26th - Nottingham - Albert's
June 27th - Manchester - The Deaf Institute
June 28th - Bristol - The Louisiana
June 30th - London - The Lexington
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