Posted in Whathaveyou on February 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Pardon me for just a minute as I once again go look at flight prices from Newark, NJ, to Austin, TX, where this September, Mars Red Sky (along with Dozer and literally dozens of others) will take part in Ripplefest Texas 2024 from Sept. 19-22, unquestionably the largest of the various city-based Ripplefest franchises. My motivation in doing so comes from putting on Mars Red Sky‘s Dec. 2023 album, Dawn of the Dusk (review here) and imagining a world in which basically I don’t fly to Texas to see them play live. I don’t want to live in that world. It’s $297 on United right now. That doesn’t seem so bad, but then you get into lodging.
Ripplefest is but one stop the Bordeaux trio will make as they support Dawn of the Dusk over the course of this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some other US shows were announced as well. Ditto that for the UK the month after. Australia? South America? Japan? Not a lot of places I can imagine they wouldn’t find welcome.
Fests and club shows and dates with Stoned Jesus; oh my. From social media:
MARS RED SKY – TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
Stoked to unveil a bunch of new gigs in Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France and the UK! Can’t wait to see your faces!! Game plan below, presales links here:https://marsredsky.rocks/tour
07.02.2024 LYON (FR) Marché Gare 10.02.2024 CAEN (FR) BIG BAND CAFE ** 17.02.2024 PAU (FR) La Ferronnerie 22.02.2024 DIJON (FR) Consortium Museum 23.02.2024 MONDORF LES BAINS (LU) Casino 2000 Mondorf-les-Bains 24.02.2024 EINDHOVEN (NL) Into The Void 21.03.2024 ANGERS (FR) Le Chabada – Angers (club et salle de concerts) 22.03.2024 SAINT-BRIEUC (FR) DRAKK METAL FEST officiel 23.03.2024 AMIENS(FR) 1001 Bières Amiens 03.04.2024 PARIS (FR) Le Trabendo ** 04.04.2024 BREST (FR) Cabaret Vauban 20.04.2024 HONDARRIBIA (SP) Psylocibenea * 21.04.2024 PORTO (PT) Hard Club * 22.04.2024 LISBON (PT) LAV – Lisboa ao Vivo * 23.04.2024 MADRID (SP) nazcacluboficial * 24.04.2024 BARCELONA (SP) Razzmatazz (Sala 3) * 25.04.2024 TOULOUSE (FR) ) Le Rex de Toulouse * 26.04.2024 TOULON(FR) Omega Live * 24.05.2024 LE GRAND-PRESSIGNY (FR) JURASSIC FEST 2024 28.05.2024 KARLSHRUE (DE) Alte Hackerei 29.05.2024 MUNICH (DE) Feierwerk 30.05.2024 WIESBADEN (DE) Schlachthof Wiesbaden 01.06.2024 ESBJERG (DK) Esbjerg Fuzztival 02.06.2024 HAMBURG (DE) Hafenklang Hamburg 04.06.2024 LEIPZIG (DE) Soltmann 05.06.2024 BRAUNSCHWEIG (DE) B58 – Braunschweigs behänder Live-Club! 06.06.2024 BOCHUNM (DE) Die Trompete 07.06.2024 LEEUWARDEN (NL) Metalfestival Into The Grave 08.06.2024 CAMBRAI (FR) BetiZFest 14.06.2024 LA ROCHE SUR YON (FR) QUAI M 23.06.2024 LA SARRAZ (CH) Humus & Wine 19.09.2024 AUSTIN (USA) RippleFest Texas 19.10.2024 GLASGOW (UK) Sword of Damocles Festival * with Stoned Jesus ** with HINT
MARS RED SKY are: Julien Pras : guitar, vocals Jimmy Kinast : bass, vocals Mathieu “Matgaz” Gazeau : drums, vocals
Tomorrow, Dec. 7, is the release date for Dawn of the Dusk, the fifth full-length from Bordeaux, France, progressive heavy psychedelic rockers Mars Red Sky. Issuing through Vicious Circle Records and the band’s own Mrs Red Sound, it is their first LP since 2019’s The Task Eternal (review here), and it comes preceded by the earlier-2023 EP, Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow (review here), which paired the trio of guitarist/vocalist Julian Pras, bassist/occasional-vocalist Jimmy Kinast and drummer Mathieu “Matgaz” Gazeau with folk singer Helen Ferguson, otherwise known as Queen of the Meadow. A past and present collaborator with Pras in his and her solo work, she both fit with the band and delivered a standout lead vocal performance with Pras backing. “Maps of Inferno” — which along with an edit of itself and the B-side “Out at Large” completed the EP’s tracklisting — reappears on Dawn of the Dusk as well, as part of a multi-tiered opening salvo that feels like nothing so much as the band purposefully pushing themselves in different directions.
To wit, “Break Even” which was the first single from the album-proper, opens and leads into the aforementioned “Maps of Inferno,” which all the more threatens to dominate the record due its prior release on the EP — threading short- and long-players is a standing tradition for Mars Red Sky — and “The Final Round,” and each of those three songs has a different lead singer. And even in “Break Even,” which unfurls itself with a roll very much characteristic of Mars Red Sky‘s style, melding languidity and tonal heft, breadth in the mix with forward rhythmic turnings and a lyrical message that feels like perhaps it’s earned some of its cynicism in the Frank Sinatra-referencing lyrics “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere/Just what you’d be making exactly is anyone’s guess,” reassuring the listener that the band hasn’t ‘gone disco’ or some such while laying out the expanse of atmosphere in which the rest of the changes throughout the record will take place.
And it’s not just the first three songs that make up the vinyl’s A-side; it’s everything, but those first three songs are a clear example of Mars Red Sky‘s active participation in their creative growth. Pras takes “Break Even,” and while that’s the standard for the band, you can still hear them itching to try new ideas. The sweep into the chorus. The floating lead guitar near the end. Next, Ferguson steps in for “Maps of Inferno,” which is a landmark — as on Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow, the collaboration cries out here for a full-length — and Kinast has a turn on “The Final Round.”
It’s not the first time he’s sung lead on a Mars Red Sky track, as one might recall “Marble Sky” from their 2011 self-titled debut (discussed here, review here), but if you’d like a convenient analogue for how much the band have grown in the 12 years since, a side-by-side of the two isn’t a terrible way to go. Here, Kinast is more confident. The construction of the song is broader. Its layers are dynamic. Its flow is psychedelic without losing its place or purpose. It goes somewhere. Not that these things weren’t true of “Marble Sky” — you will not hear me shit-talk that record, ever — but in concept and execution, Mars Red Sky‘s maturity has seen them become masters of a heavy, immersive rock that’s progressive not because it’s putting on a show of technique, though Matgaz patterns “Maps of Inferno” with subtle math, but because they build an instrumental like side B opener “A Choir of Ghosts” layer by layer with care and detail, mindful of their audience and how material might be perceived by their listenership, but always driving to balance that with an internal artistic chase — running, or rolling as with the riffs, after some idealized version of the thing, the sound, the song that’s perfect and always just ahead.
Side B has its own structure. The instrumental “A Choir of Ghosts” leads into “Carnival Man,” which is the longest inclusion at 7:42 and downtrodden in its storytelling as it moves through the chorus toward the halfway point at about three minutes deep, the break to a long stretch of serene psych meandering taking hold for the next two-plus minutes. That’s step one.
Step two, “Trap Door” sets up “Slow Attack.” The former is 46 seconds long and an acoustic intro for “Slow Attack” playing the next song’s central riff, quiet and unplugged, but they’re not kidding (though no doubt they’re having a bit of fun) when they call it “Trap Door” because it does feel very much like you’re being dropped into the penultimate cut as it bursts in at the start of a new measure and proceeds onward from there with stately march. Step three, the bottom drops out.
While not as much of a spectacle as “Maps of Inferno” or “The Final Round,” “Slow Attack” is quintessential Mars Red Sky. Again, Matgaz makes an intricate riff accessible through the drums. Kinast‘s bass winds beneath the chorus with an uptick in low end compared to the verse riff, which is more of a bounce as Pras delivers the title-line after the first chorus. And for step four, they finish with a wash that cuts back to the acoustic guitar, perhaps to shut the “Trap Door” behind them as they move on to the end of the record, but also to shift directly into “Heavenly Bodies,” which closes.
In a subdued reprise of “Slow Attack” on guitar and an arrangement that, while quiet and minimal-feeling is not at all the latter with Rhodes and maybe a broken piano, Ferguson returning to join Pras on ethereal vocals to enhance the ambient impression of “Heavenly Bodies” overall, which begins like a lullaby and comes to be consumed by static noise. Surprisingly harsh, almost machine-like, the noise swallows the melody and then settles itself into quick-fading static, like it was barely there to begin with. It’s not out of place, necessarily, and it’s fair enough that after spending the prior 39 minutes building a world of such vivid light and solidified ground and textures, they should be able to wipe the slate of Dawn of the Dusk and perhaps signal the arrival of nightfall.
Hopefully not. I’ve expressed a few times by now a concern that Dawn of the Dusk will be the last album from Mars Red Sky, a band I believe have more to say. Call me superstitious, but I believe in the subconscious, and when a group starts talking about endings, about circuses leaving town, about letting it be, “The Final Round” and so on, I get nervous. If this does end up being their last studio LP and touring cycle — and I don’t know that it is and I sincerely hope it isn’t — then Dawn of the Dusk serves as both a measure of how much the band have grown and flourished in their time together and of their desire to keep developing and trying new paths.
Both the familiar and not are reinforced, and even the curious structure of the two sides, the way each half develops its own personality, Dawn of the Dusk is a realized vision of Mars Red Sky‘s fluid chemistry, dynamic, malleable approach and psychedelic vision. They are a special, singular band.
—
[I was fortunate enough this week to talk to Pras, Gazeau and Kinast for a bit before a show in Germany on their current tour. The signal was spotty but the video of the interview follows here. Thanks if you check it out. The band’s remaining tour dates on this run (they’ll have more in 2024 and are confirmed for Ripplefest Texas in August), and other videos for the record follow as well.]
Mars Red Sky, Dawn of the Dusk interview, Dec. 5, 2023
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Fresh off a performance at the Rise and Fall Festival in Niort, France, the Bordeaux-based heavy psychedelic progressive rock trio Mars Red Sky are edging closer to the Dec. 8 release of their fifth full-length, Dawn of the Dusk. Following up on the clip for “Break Even” (posted here) that itself followed the actual album announcement early last month, “The Final Round” is track three on the record after “Break Even” and “Maps of Inferno,” which featured earlier this year on the collaborative EP, Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow (review here).
It’s an eight-track record and the last one is an instrumental revisit to the eerie melodies of “Maps of Inferno,” so three songs is not an insubstantial portion of the release out there before the arrival, which is still basically a month off. “The Final Round” also brings to my mind one of my greatest concerns about Dawn of the Dusk, namely that it’s either consciously or not positioning itself as the last Mars Red Sky album. The LP’s title certainly hints at beginnings of endings, and maybe “The Final Round” really is a last go on their part in some way. You’ll note it’s not the first round for bassist Jimmy Kinast taking on lead vocals. That was “Up the Stairs” on their 2011 self-titled debut (review here, discussed here), but Kinast makes the six-plus-minute track a highlight of the album — which is doubly impressive following Helen Ferguson‘s sit-in for “Maps of Inferno” and the high standard of guitarist Julien Pras‘ general handling of the role — and the effect those changes have in broadening the scope of Dawn of the Dusk isn’t to be understated. I may or may not be streaming the album in advance of the release, so I’m trying to hold back reviewing for that, but Mars Red Sky have never put out the same record twice, they’ve only ever moved forward, and this one does that too.
I only hope it’s not where they stop moving at all. I don’t think the shape of heavy rock or progressive psych would be what it is without the work Mars Red Sky have done over more than the last decade. They’re the band that showed a generation how to be heavy without having to give up melody for aggression. If they are done — mind you I have no confirmation, this is me hypothesizing; and “done” includes a hiatus for a few or however many years — the legacy they’ve left is not a trifling thing, and while I hope very much Dawn of the Dusk is not their collective final round, neither do I feel like they owe listeners or anyone else anything in terms of either the quality of their work or the ethic with which they’ve thus far delivered it. Speaking of, there’s tour dates listed below that carry into next year. Hardly the kind of thing a band wrapping up would do, you say? It is my sincere, sincere hope that you’re correct.
Enjoy “The Final Round”:
Mars Red Sky, “The Final Round” official video
From MARS RED SKY’s new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ – out December 8th 2023 on MRS Red Sound & Vicious Circle. https://idol-io.ffm.to/DawnoftheDusk
French doom-psych/heavy-progressive trio MARS RED SKY unveil a striking new video for their monumental new track “The Final Round”. Their upcoming album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ is due out on December 8th 2023 via Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records.
‘Dawn Of The Dusk’: the beginning and the end are one. Mirror effects, reversals, double-dealing, deterioration… This fifth studio effort from French heavy psychedelic stalwarts MARS RED SKY is a genuine conceptual piece of work skilfully designed to take the listener on a journey through a shifting, unpredictable and even utterly disconcerting sonic universe. Bordeaux-based trio explore progressive and post-metal territories with boundless inspiration.
New video “The Final Round” proves that the band know how to surprise with a sumptuous Bowiesque journey with Jimmy Kinast (bass) on vocals! One of the highlights of the album. “As the film progresses, the organic elements of the creature deteriorate. This slow decline reflects the lyrics suggesting, in a pre-apocalyptic atmosphere, a balance of power between leaders and victims, the powerful ones and the weaks, power and the people it affects” comment film director Carol Teillard D’Eyry. “The Final Round” was directed by Carol Teillard d’Eyry with the help of D.O.P Nicolas Pradeau and Mathieu Disson (gaffer). Starring: Clément Gyselinck.
TRACK LISTING ‘DAWN OF THE DUSK’ 1. Break Even 2. Maps of Inferno 3. The Final Round 4. A Choir of Ghosts 5. Carnival Man 6. Trap Door 7. Slow Attack 8. Heavenly Bodies
As announced last week, Mars Red Sky‘s new album is called Dawn of the Dusk and it’s being released on Dec. 8 through Vicious Circle Records and Mrs Red Sound. I spent a goodly portion of September (and October so far) with it on repeat, so when the clip came out last Wednesday, I wanted to post it right away because I’ve been dying to talk about this record, the somewhat darker take in “Break Even” at the outset and how that comes to define the record through the diversion in “Maps of Inferno” from the Bordeaux trio’s earlier-’23 collaboration EP with Queen of the Meadow, aptly-titled Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow (review here) and on from there into the heart of the band’s latest expression, built on their core approach of bringing together heavy, melodic, progressive psychedelia with memorable songwriting and identifiability of sound. That is, especially by this point, as they head to their fifth long-player and look to tour in Europe this Fall and probably next Spring (if they wait that long) ahead of traveling back to the US to tour to support it. They’ve already been announced for Ripplefest Texas 2024, and I doubt that will be the last. Recall they were on the American West Coast last year.
More even than 2019’s The Task Eternal (review here), and as four additional years — especially the last four — will, Dawn of the Dusk presents a more mature sound from Mars Red Sky, whose directional growth revealed itself on their second full-length, 2014’s Stranded in Arcadia (discussed here, review here) as the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras, bassist/sometimes-vocalist Jimmy Kinast (he gets lead vox on “The Final Round,” which is track three after “Break Even” and “Maps of Inferno”) and then-new drummer Mathieu “Matgaz” Gazeau set themselves forth after their 2011 self-titled debut (discussed here, review here) with an expansive take that has only continued to flourish through 2016’s Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (review here) and the aforementioned 2019 outing. This should be seen as willful commitment to stylistic progression, because that’s what it is. Mars Red Sky have always been a band who have looked to push themselves toward new ideas and interpretations of what they do. “Break Even” boasts a familiar roll and breadth, and in the layering of the guitar, the somewhat downtrodden vocal delivery from Pras and the subtle angularity of its turns and the solo that complements its final lines, has a kind of urgency to it that seems to be mirrored in the lyrics.
To that end, the lyrics are here. I don’t always include them with videos unless specifically asked — and I wasn’t — but they’re relevant, and maybe you want to sing along. I do. I’m still getting to know the abiding mood of Dawn of the Dusk, but I’m also still getting to know their first record, so don’t go by me. I’ll have a full album review up at some point between now and Dec. 8 (he said with absolute confidence after being the better part of a week late posting the video; I’ve been annoyed at myself since about last Wednesday at 9AM Eastern), but I’ve heard it enough over the last few weeks to tell you with certainty that “Break Even” represents Dawn of the Dusk well and its accompanying video bolsters the atmosphere of the song itself, which of course is the idea, while mostly giving the track its own space.
Gonna stop myself here, but know that there’s more to say on this one and that I hope to sooner or later do at least some of that saying. With that warning in mind, I urge you to please enjoy the video below:
Mars Red Sky, “Break Even” official video
From MARS RED SKY’s new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ – out December 8th 2023 on MRS Red Sound & Vicious Circle. https://idol-io.ffm.to/DawnoftheDusk
Video directed by Clara Griot.
Special thanks to Paul Roucher. Project supported by ADAMI.
Recorded and mixed by Benjamin Mandeau at Cryogene Studio, France, mastering by Ladislav Agabekov at Caduceus Studio in Gimel, Switzerland.
Lyrics : For any sort of pain there’s a market and a remedy Stocks bonds up & down the chain of custody Keeper of the Flagstaff a sniper at the ready Prone to snap hands clapping cracking codes & ribs Fire up & down the rapids shoot the medecine He’ll quit and join the race, the rank & file for normality If you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere Just what you’d be making exactly is anyone’s guess
Soon it’s the pat on the back The ravings, the panic attacks Fool it’s the common mistake The fun and the fin in the lake Soon it’s the cast of a die The shrewdly slanted device
Thank the groom for a room so dank Phantom-powered light bulbs flicker in a fish tank Who’s that waiting on the other side of the receiving end Cold-blooded doner with ghastly manners I was leader of the aging pack when I found her Sketch out etching replicate shiped out built-in operator
Soon it’s the pat on the back The ravings, the panic attacks Fool it’s the bid in the auction Break even or break into heaven
A figure head of state a true visionary Joins the rank & file for dependency Investigating what lays back younder What might come out of it I dare not wonder
Soon it’s the pat on the back The ravings, the panic attacks Fool it’s the common mistake The fun and the fin in the lake Soon it’s the cast of a die The shrewdly slanted device Fool it’s the bid in the auction Break even or break into heaven
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This Wednesday — two friggin’ days from now — French heavy psych rockers Mars Red Sky will post their video for “Break Even,” which is the first single from their new album, Dawn of the Dusk, due Dec. 8 on Vicious Circle Records and the band’s own Mrs Red Sound imprint. In fact, the clip is already up. It was sent to media with the press release below, and I’d love to share it, but it’s a 48-hour embargo and only assholes don’t respect that kind of thing.
My question is: am I really going to put up another Mars Red Sky post on Wednesday with that video, just two days after the album announcement? On social media, that kind of thing makes sense because of the constant demand for content from the greedy algorithm. Here, especially on a week when I’m doing a Quarterly Review and that’s most of the writing/brain power/posted-stuff going up, I’m less certain.
But I’ve heard the record and it’s awesome. A wholly representative work from an essential band. Whether or not I’ll put that video up in a couple days isn’t my only question about it, either. This is the first album Mars Red Sky will have put out past their 15th anniversary last year. Is it the dawn of the dusk of the band? The beginning of the end? One never really knows, but I always get nervous when acts I like start talking about endings in record titles. That’s before you get to “The Final Round.”
So maybe I will post that clip! Getting while the getting’s good, and all that. If you heard the collaborative Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow EP (review here), you’ll be happy to know that “Maps of Inferno” from it (video below) features early on Dawn of the Dusk and is part of a reprise later on as well, almost similar to how the EP ended with an edit of the track itself, but a different melodic interpretation.
I don’t know a lot of stuff coming out in December yet, and in my head, this might be the last big release of 2023. I’m sure it won’t be — because the truth is the onslaught never friggin’ ends — but in terms of my personal listening habits, it’s already been a big one and I have the feeling it will continue to be as the next few months draw down and we head into the dark of winter.
I did a video chat at some point with Julien and Jimmy that was great and I’m going to try to again for this record if I can. Keep an eye out.
Here’s this from the PR wire:
French heavy psych torchbearers MARS RED SKY to issue new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ on December 8th: enjoy first extract “Break Even”.
Doom-psych / heavy-progressive project MARS RED SKY reveal details on their new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ – due out on December 8th 2023 via Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records. Fuzz-laden video extract “Break Even” is due out this wednesday 4th October
‘Dawn Of The Dusk’: the beginning and the end are one. Mirror effects, reversals, double-dealing, deterioration… This fifth studio effort from French heavy psychedelic stalwarts MARS RED SKY is a genuine conceptual piece of work skilfully designed to take the listener on a journey through a shifting, unpredictable and even utterly disconcerting sonic universe. Bordeaux-based trio explore progressive and post-metal territories with boundless inspiration. Their original signature of jagged vocals and thundering rhythm is spiced up by drones and various mid-kraut rock and mid-gothic effects. The atmospheres and settings are finely crafted, with Julien Pras’s voice adding a delicious pop languor. Debut single “Break Even” shapes the components of the album into a kind of reversible allegory, as appealing as disturbing. The video directed by Clara Griot invites us to enter their post-apocalyptic world with wild open eyes.
MARS RED SKY’s new record ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ is coming out on December 8th via Vicious Circle (Slift, We Insist!, Shannon Wright, The Psychotic Monks) and Mrs Red Sound (their own imprint) on coloured LP, CD digisleeve, streaming and download. It will be available for preorder on October 25th through both labels. All songs by Mars Red Sky except Maps Of Inferno by Mars Red Sky and Queen Of The Meadow (off their latest EP). Produced, recorded and mixed by Benjamin Mandeau at Cryogène Studio in Bègles, France. Mastering by Ladislav Agabekov (of hardcore band Nostromo) at Caduceus Studio in Gimel, Switzerland.
MARS RED SKY New album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ Out December 8th 2023 on Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records
TRACK LISTING ‘DAWN OF THE DUSK’ 1. Break Even 2. Maps of Inferno 3. The Final Round 4. A Choir of Ghosts 5. Carnival Man 6. Trap Door 7. Slow Attack 8. Heavenly Bodies
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Let’s casually presume that when Mars Red Sky release their new video on Oct. 4 for the track “Break Even,” that they’ll tag an announcement for their next full-length on with that, and I’m hoping it’ll be out before the end of the year. That does make it potentially a December release, and I’d hate to think of it not getting the look it deserves because listeners are settling into the holidays and the music industry is exhaling until late January or thereabouts, but they’ve got live shows set for the next half a year with likely a bunch more to come for Spring and Summer 2024, so I don’t think they’ll be lacking for spreading the word. They’ll do Freak Valley‘s big winter to-do in December as well, so whether that’s when the record comes out or not, it’ll be a busy month for the Bordeaux trio.
They posted the dates on socials with the ticket link and other whatnots. Earlier this year, the band put out the self-titled Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow EP (review here) and there’ve been some quality short releases throughout 2023 thus far, but I’m not sure I’ve heard anything to top that one in my mind. Their last full-length was 2019’s The Task Eternal (review here), so yeah, they’re about due to hit it again. Hope they come back to the States.
Here’s dates from socials:
MARS RED SKY – TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
Here we are!! Thanks to 3C and Sound of Liberation for the gigs. New video clip “Break Even” to come out on October 4th 2023. Stay tuned ’cause we have more cool things to announce.
Bourdeaux, France, progressive heavy psychedelic rockers Mars Red Sky are drawing closer to the April 28 release of their new collaborative EP, Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow, set to issue through their own Mrs Red Sound imprint and Vicious Circle Records. The trio’s first work since 2019’s The Task Eternal (review here), it sees Helen Ferguson, aka folk solo artist Queen of the Meadow, step in on lead vocals for the tracks “Maps of Inferno” (7:17) and “Out at Large” (5:39), with an edit called “Maps of Inferno (Shortcut)” (4:44) rounding out as a reprise.
All told, they’re done in under 18 minutes, and that is the source of my only complaint about Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow — it’s not enough. Unless they’re planning a series of these releases as a four-piece with Ferguson up front alongside Mars Red Sky guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras, bassist/sometimes-vocalist Jimmy Kinast and drummer Mathew “Matgaz” Gazeau, two originals and the ‘shortcut’ just don’t cut it. From the wah-drenched solo in “Out at Large” and the density of the low end that feels so true to the band’s roller-fuzz beginnings to the Joni Mitchell-esque declarations delivered firmly by Ferguson in “Maps of Inferno” — long or short — and back again, the EP feels complete in its own terms with the focused-on-structure bookend they give it, but those terms leave one wanting more in a visceral way. There’s further they can go into that wash at the end of “Out at Large,” more to do with the bounce in “Maps of Inferno,” and certainly exploration to be done in the harmonies from Pras and Ferguson together.
EPs often precede LPs for Mars Red Sky — their discography is a big ol’ back and forth between long and short offerings — and this wouldn’t be the first time the band have expanded beyond their core lineup before going back to it for their next record, but the richness of “Maps of Inferno” begs to be fleshed out across at least one full-length, building as it does on an established partnership between Ferguson and Pras — on multiple levels; they may or may not be married — the latter of whom who has produced albums for the former and featured on guitar and vocals. Combining that spirit with the tonal weight of Mars Red Sky feels like a bolster to the band’s approach, influential as they’ve been in bringing together an abiding lushness in the sweetness of Pras‘ vocals and the heft of their increasingly complex grooves, which is something else “Maps of Inferno” demonstrates in its mellowed-out ambient break, peppered with sparse guitar as it moves fluidly through a swaying jam en route back to the central riff from whence it came, Matgaz‘s drums thudding the change.
There’s a lot of 2023 left, I understand, but Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow are the standard to which I’ll be comparing EPs for the rest of the year, and right now that feels like a pretty mammoth ask of, well, anybody. As of this writing, I haven’t seen the video yet for “Maps of Inferno,” and honestly I don’t even know if it’s the long or short version of the track yet, but what matters here is that the collaboration between Ferguson and Mars Red Sky has resulted in something special beyond what one might’ve expected of the elements involved, and it is a release that demands to be heard no less than it demands a follow-up. I hope it gets both.
Enjoy the clip and, most importantly, the song:
Mars Red Sky, “Maps of Inferno” official video
When the power of psychedelic heavy meets the depth of dark folk harmonies, it results in a complex and exhilarating flavor. The daring combination opens up the genres to a whole new dimension. MARS RED SKY’s new EP, soberly entitled “Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow”, exalts and enhances the trio’s magic formula: namely, the blend of a robust and determined rhythm section with jagged and ambitious vocals, all evolving within a unique soundscape. The two tracks of the record suggest a disturbing journey through an immense maze directly inspired by mad architect Piranesi and his towers with terrifying staircases. Real melodic narrative, Queen Of The Meadow’s vocals carve out an unexpected intensity. Mars Red Sky offers here an abyssal production, polished and unheard of.
Produced, recorded and mixed by Benjamin Mandeau at Cryogène Studio, Bègles (France). Mastering: Ladislav Agabekov at Caduceus Studios, Gimel (Switzerland). Band photography: Jessica Calvo (photography), Fluor_99 (artwork). Cover: Machado Leão (artwork), Brett Kielick (photography). Layout: Floriane Fontaine
All songs composed, written and arranged by Mars Red Sky and Queen Of The Meadow: Helen Ferguson: lead vocals and melodies Julien Pras: guitars, back-up vocals Jimmy Kinast: bass Mathieu “Matgaz” Gazeau: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This is the second time this week I’m posting news about Mars Red Sky. The Bordeaux trio are fresh off announcing a stretch of tour dates alongside Weedeater and Telekinetic Yeti that starts this month, and they’re following that with the unveiling of their new EP, made in collaboration with folk singer Queen of the Meadow. Born Helen Ferguson, she and Mars Red Sky‘s Julien Pras have worked together going back to his being her guitar teacher and they may or may not be married. In any case, I’ve heard the thing, and it’s a fit, which is what matters, and obviously it’s that basis in the prior relationship that makes that possible. Stumbling through Queen of the Meadow‘s Bandcamp, 2018’s A Room to Store Happiness hits a nerve nicely in “Royal Garden.” I’ve embedded it below. It’s not her latest album, that’s 2021’s Survival of the Unfittest, but you know how to get to Bandcamp from an embed.
Of course, Mars Red Sky have long had a pattern of releasing EPs as a way of leading into new full-lengths, so I’ll just say I hope that’s the case here. It’s also not the first collaboration the three-piece have done, as they worked together with Year of No Light on an EP (discussed here) in 2012. It’s a good one though. You won’t regret keeping an ear out.
For now:
Hey there!
We are excited to officially announce the release of our new EP « Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow » this April 28th 2023 on long time friends record label Vicious Circle Records and our own one Mrs Red Sound !! We teamed up with dark folk artist Queen of the Meadow who sings on each track. We hope you’ll like this one made – as always – with love & fuzz. Details about the release and more surprises to be revealed in the next few days… Stay tuned!
18.02.2023 (#127465#)(#127466#) ERFURT Bandhaus Erfurt 29.02.2023 (#127462#)(#127481#) VIENNA Echoes of Erebos 30.02.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) BRISTOL Astral Festival 01.05.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) CARDIFF The Globe Cardiff * 02.05.2023 (#127470#)(#127466#) DUBLIN The Grand Social* 03.05.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) GLASGOW Cathouse Rock Club* 05.05.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) SHEFFIELD Corporation Sheffield* 05.05.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) MANCHESTER Factory Manchester* 06.05.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) DURHAM Dominion Festival 07.05.2023 (#127468#)(#127463#) LONDON Desertfest London 27.05.2023 (#127466#)(#127480#) MADRID Kristonfest 26.08.2023 (#127463#)(#127466#) RILLAAR Down The Hill * With Weedeater and Telekinetic Yeti.
MARS RED SKY are: Julien Pras : guitar, vocals Jimmy Kinast : bass, vocals Mathieu “Matgaz” Gazeau: drums, vocals
