Leeds art punks Mush have shared their new single Existential Dread. The knotty, anxious, tongue-in-cheek track is lifted from their highly anticipated debut album ‘3D Routine’.
Featuring Mush’s trademark off kilter guitar licks, Existential Dread sees lead singer Dan Hyndman merrily interrogate the dark recesses of his mind:
“I wrote the song to keep myself amused while on a severe hangover, tried to frame the bleak thoughts in an amusing way. We always affectionately referred to it as the Beatles/Nirvana song. First riff sounds like Beatles and then the second riff sounds bit like Nirvana. We are unofficially Yorkshire’s most anxious band so seems apt to have a song about existential dread”
Listen to the track via YouTube below.
Following on from their ‘Induction Party EP,’ Leeds based Mush are circulating their own sonic mythology, blurring the lines between abstract surrealism, existentialism and social commentary. Like its predecessor ‘3D Routine’ is a sensory overload of clattering, hooky, guitar work. However, this time space emerges between the onslaughts and in this respite, room is found for new emotional depth. More expansive than ever before, ‘3D Routine’ manages to maintain the rawness of a classic debut but its experimentation and variety portray a band unlikely to rest on their ‘guitar band’ chops.
Songwriter Dan Hyndman explains the genesis of the band as being “fairly boiler plate” a combination of friends old and new converging in Leeds post-Uni to form a band predominantly united in their mutual affection for the Pavement back catalogue. Finally settling on a lineup of Nick Grant (bass), Tyson (guitar) and Phil Porter (drums) the band’s progression has taken them far beyond this original vision.
Having garnered local attention in the early days for their unhinged and often calamitous live shows in Leeds, it was the unlikely radio hit Alternative Facts, (clocking in at an uncompromising ten minutes) that brought the Mush to the attention of a wider audience. The song, one of the last releases for the legendary Too Pure Singles Club saw early support from Marc Riley and others on BBC 6music with them playing multiple sessions, and the follow up single, Gig Economy hopping onto the 6music playlist. Roaming further afield from their hometown, Mush spent the first half of 2019 heading out around the UK, earning a reputation for their intense live performances, supporting the likes of Girl Band, The Lovely Eggs, Yak, Shame and Stereolab, as well as releasing the ‘Induction Party EP’ to great acclaim. At the tail end of summer of 2019 Mush headed to Leeds’ Green Mount Studio and with Andy Savours (Dream Wife, Our Girl, My Bloody Valentine) manning the mixing desk, their debut LP, ‘3D Routine’ was born.
‘3D Routine’ tracklisting
1. Revising My Fee
2. Eat The Etiquette
3. Existential Dread
4. Coronation Chicken
5. Island Mentality
6. Fruits Of The Happening
7. Hey Gammon Head
8. 3D Routine
9. Gig Economy
10. Poverty Pornography
11. No Signal In The Paddock
12. Alternative Facts
‘3D Routine’ will be out on February 14 2020 via Memphis Industries – PRE-ORDER HERE
Along with sharing the single, they have also shared news of their upcoming UK and European tour.
Forthcoming tour dates
06 Feb – UK Wakefield, Establishment Music Hall
18 Feb – UK Nottingham, Rough Trade
19 Feb – UK Bristol, Rough Trade
20 Feb – UK London, Rough Trade East
07 Mar – UK Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
07 Apr – FR Paris, Supersonic
08 Apr – FR Lyon, Le Sonic
10 Apr – FR Lille, Pzzle Festival @ Le Grand Mix
12 Apr – UK Ramsgate, Ramsgate Music Hall
13 Apr – UK Brighton, The Prince Albert
14 Apr – UK London, Sebright Arms
15 Apr – UK Bristol, The Lanes
16 Apr – UK Manchester, YES
17 Apr – UK Sheffield, Picture House Social
18 Apr – UK Newcastle, The Cumberland Arms
25 Apr – UK Reading, Are You Listening? Festival
