The Leeds, UK-based art-rock group, Mush has shared their new single, Group of Death which arrives as the final advance preview of their forthcoming third album, ‘Down Tools’ which is out July 8 via Memphis Industries. The new record marks Mush’s third full-length in just over two years following 2020’s debut LP, ‘3D Routine’ and 2021’s critically-acclaimed ‘Lines Redacted,’ which found support at BBC 6 Music (inc Album of the Day), Pitchfork, Quietus, Sunday Times, Brooklyn Vegan, Line of Best Fit, Dork and DIY and, as Uncut wrote, saw them become “kindred spirits to Wand and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, two other bands prolifically honing their sound and approach, steadily developing their voice.” The band will support the new album with a UK/EU headline tour this October. Listen to Group of Death via YouTube below.
Group of Death changes the pace for Mush finding the band tap into a more contemplative, relaxed sound, writing with the initial – perhaps tongue-in-cheek – intention of it being a World Cup 2022 song. While on the one hand being an anti-World Cup anthem, on the other it laments and criticises the deaths of thousands of workers who died building the stadiums in Qatar. Speaking about the single, Dan Hyndman, lead guitarist/singer in the band says: “In my warped imagination it just sounds like a Paul McCartney song but it won’t to others. I initially had the idea of doing a World Cup song called Group of Death, but by the time it was written nothing beyond the title had any relevance to football, and anyway the next world cup is in Qatar so fuck that shit.”
‘Down Tools’ was recorded in Leeds at Greenmount Studios with long-term collaborators, Lee Smith and Jamie Lockhart (Yard Act, Easy Life, Cribs). While grief and work balance form themes on the record, Hyndman’s approach is largely made up of abstract, disconnected streams of consciousness and lines liberally taken from books, paintings, films and beyond. Hyndman says of the recording process: “going into Greenmount was like returning to a childhood home, it’s great re-connecting with Lee and Jamie. They let us do whatever we want within reason, we have fun and you kind of forget they are actually both amazing at what they do. So much of the guitar had to be improvised in the studio which was stressful but also intrinsic to creating the non-linear vibe of some of the stranger tracks”.
‘Down Tools’ track list
1. Grief Thief
2. Karoshi Karaoke
3. Get On Yer Soapbox
4. Human Resources
5. Northern Safari
6. Dense Traffic
7. Inkblot and The Wedge
8. Group of Death
9. Groundswell
10. Interlude
11. Burn, Suffering!
12. Down Tools
You can pre-order ‘Down Tools’ here
Mush formed in 2015, its first iteration being as a five-piece noise band with three guitars. Mush’s MO and sound have changed a lot since then as the band continues to grow and hone their sound. On ‘3D Routine’ the sound centered around the interweaving of dueling guitars of Steven Tyson and Hyndman. Since Tyson’s death, Hyndman has contributed all of the guitars for ‘Lines Redacted’ and ‘Down Tools’. Recent recruit, Myles Kirk is now on second guitar duties ushering another new era for the band, joining Dan plus Nick Grant (bass/vox) and Phil Porter (drums).
UK tour dates
Jul 08 | Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Jul 09 | London, UK @ Rough Trade East
Jul 10 | Nottingham, UK @ Rough Trade East
Sep 30 | Sunderland, UK @ Pop Recs
Oct 01 | Glasgow, UK @ The Hug & Pint
Oct 02 | Manchester, UK @ YES (Basement)
Oct 03 | London, UK @ The Lexington
Oct 04 | Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin
Oct 05 | Sheffield, UK @ Record Junkie
Oct 12 | Angers @ Joker’s Pub
Oct 13 | Bordeaux @ TBA
Oct 14 | Nantes @ Le Pôle Etudiant
Oct 15 | Lyon @ Marché Gare
Oct 18 | Paris @ Point Ephémère
Oct 19 | Lille @ L’Aeronef
Oct 21 | Rotterdam @ Left Of The Dial
Oct 22 | Rotterdam @ Left Of The Dial
Oct 24 | Berlin @ Schokoladen
Oct 25 | Halle @ Hühnermanhattan
Oct 27 | Hamburg @ Aalhaus
Oct 28 | Amsterdam @ London Calling
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