A Mountain Of One have recently called it a day. The band, built around the core duo of Mo Morris and Zeben Jameson and joined by Leo Elstob, formed in London in 2005 and released music in two phases- the first between 2007 and 2010 and the second in 2019- 2023. In the late 00s they were part of a new Balearic scene, with the phrases yacht rock and cosmic disco frequently thrown in. Their music always had a dark edge to it, a slightly frazzled sun burnt psychedelia that kept them the right side of the soft rock/ yacht rock dividing line- for me anyway. Their 2022 album Stars Planet Dust Me was one of my favourites from that year, with its singles Dealer, Custard's Last Stand and various remixes (Andy Bell/ GLOK, Midfield General).
In 2007 they released two EPs, titled EP1 and EP 2 and then collected them on a CD called Collected Works. EP2 is a trip, five tracks that come clad in a reflective gold sleeve and on side 1 Innocent Line and Innocent Reprise.
Birdsong, echoes, repeating guitar notes, then the tck-tck- tck- tck of a cymbal, a circling guitar riff beamed in from the late 60s/ late 80s and we're off on a ride. There's a flute and some organ and then some delicious backwards guitar. A deep and rich psychedelic stew, Balearic, yes, but it's not residing in the poolside cocktail lounge, but somewhere a little messier altogether.
Sad new, indeed. And yes, Stars Planets Dust Me was an excellent album.
ReplyDelete