Whisperin And Hollerin published a lengthy feature on the Curse of the Mirror Wicked EP yesterday. Part review, part interview, part editorial, it’s a detailed response to this release in particular and the band’s overall ethos in general.
“Whilst it may initially feel like a comedown from the adventure of previous releases, about five listens in these songs get into you, and they stay, putting this up there with some of the best songs they have ever written. Having had this EP for about a week, my I-pod is starting to sigh with my predictability. It’s a compulsive listen that grows. Few bands are worthy of the near sycophantism. It’s a new dimension to what they do, these self-referential confessions told with elements of remorse. The context of this release makes each track poignant, with the themes never sounding more explicit than on ‘Devil’s Son.’”
As a semi-objective assessment of both what the band has been up to this year and the ideas behind this latest project, we think you might enjoy it. It’s a great summary to read alongside our own two-part interview published last week.
You can read the feature here and download the EP here.
The Dysunited Kingdom remains the band’s heARTland, but it’s great to see the attention that the Great Fears & Curious Predictions EP is attracting from elsewhere. The above list of countries shows where the EP’s mini-site visitors have come from so far. Here are some review highlights that we’ve spotted…
DrunkenWerewolf:
“In its entirety Great Fears and Curious Predictions is everything I could have prayed for and more… the penmanship is flawless and fan or foe would be hard pushed to adequately criticise any aspect of the EP. It’s not often that a 5-track secures the position of release of the year, but I have a feeling Crook may have broken normal conventions.”
Zoom In:
“Lupen’s songs have always been malleable, a characteristic allowing them to be performed by Mr. Crook on his own, as well as by the various Murderbirds incarnations. As this EP clearly shows, the tunes hold up to such experimentation because they’re so strong to begin with.”
WhiteTapes (rough translation from German):
“That we need to reintroduce Lupen Crook & The Murderbirds to you when they’ve already put out two albums shows that something is clearly not right in the music business, because this great release from singer-songwriter Lupen Crook deserves much more attention.”
ByteFM (rough translation from German):
“Wonderful music for a lonely Saturday evening, or alternatively an active Sunday morning.”
2 гамбургера и 2 коки (very rough translation from Russian - can anyone help?):
“British musicians are incredibly generous; this time it is Lupen Crook And The Murderbirds. Lupen Crook himself is an acoustic singer with a painful voice. As a part of The Murderbirds, he’s a melodramatic and devilish writer who mixes freak folk and rock.”
Also thanks to Jécoutedelamusiquedemerde and NO-NAME for their mentions and particularly to NME for the news story. Everyone’s support is really appreciated.
It’ll come up on its side, but go to view and rotate. The review, if you fancy reading it is down the right hand side. x Thanks Huddersfield.
huddersfield-daily-examiner-review
