A little while ago it seemed that we might never hear again from Meursault. The Edinburgh-based band, led by Neil Pennycook, have been out in the wilderness (to use label Song, By Toad’s words) for four years. “For various reasons I had to step away from Meursault for a while and take stock,” Pennycook explains. “Over the course of touring and promoting Something for the Weakened I’d made the decision to turn Meursault into a ‘band’ and this proved to be a bad move… I started playing solo as Supermoon, and after a while I began to realise that the music I was writing had a great deal in common with earlier Meursault. I decided that the best course of action was to ‘hit reset’ and pick up where I’d left off, with Meursault as a solo project and a revolving backing band.”
So lo and behold Meursault is/are back with a brand new EP, Simple is Good, something we’re very happy about. The EP sounds like an act finding its feet once more, taking in many of the iterations of Meursault from their back catalogue to include downbeat lo-fi numbers, manic indie rock songs and straight up acoustic ballads. The opening title track is based on a repetitively emotive piano line and thudding percussion, eventually joined by swirling strings and Pennycook’s distinctive vocal delivery.
“Once there was nothing
and then let there be light
and then there was still nothing
but now we could see it”
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In comparison, ‘By Gaslight’ is a joyous mess. Gone is the composed piano, the careful sense of melancholy. Here we get the devotional drone of church organ and slapped Dessner-esque percussion, all sewn together by the wheeze of harmonica. By the end the vocals ring from the rafters in the jubilant cry of “they are playing our song”.
‘A Killer Chorus’ then strips things right back, Pennycook’s vocals seemingly delivered directly into the listener’s ear, before ‘The Fix Is In’ blows away the cobwebs with a crunchy guitar song that has an almost bluesy swagger. ‘A Kind Of Cure’ slows things right down once more, the slow tap of percussion and ghostly floating synths allowing Pennycook to take centre stage with his greatly affecting vocals, before the gentle acoustic closer, ‘Albeit Barely’. The song is a 90 second shot of what Meursault are all about, beauty and misanthropy interlocked in a configuration that somehow makes things seem like they might just turn out okay after all.
“My God, my God
what an ugly child
what a time to be a live
albeit barely”
You can get Simple is Good from the Song, By Toad Records Bandcamp page. In a further dose of good news, Pennycook has announced a brand new full-length to be released at the end of February. You can pre-order that on Bandcamp too and hear the first single below: