ORAN Mor is set to play host to a concert like no other, as Glastonbury-based art rock band The Moulettes bring their unique live show to Glasgow.
The four-piece band are on the final leg of a two-year tour to support their fourth album Prenatural, that has seen them travel all the way across Europe, from Poland to Malta and through North America and on the 4th December, they will be playing a very special show in Glasgow’s West End.
Singer Hannah Miller said: “We just got back from Canada a few weeks ago which was a blast and we went down a storm because there’s a real appetite for progressive music there. Canadians have a real love and appreciation for music in general so we had some beautiful comments and reaction with lots of warmth.”
“We made a lot of friends, and got to know Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec City and Toronto. That’s why we love our job, the opportunity to meet new people and explore new places.”
This is not the band’s first visit to Glasgow, and Hannah is keen to stress how much they enjoy playing here.
“We love Glasgow and Oran Mor looks beautiful,” she said. “We haven’t played as much as we would have liked to in Glasgow so this is a real highlight on the tour.”
“We played Celtic Connections a couple of years back and I played Optimo (a club night at Sub Club) with our electro band, Modernaire years ago but we have good friends up there so it’s going to be loads of fun.”
The band are relying on a few of their Glasgow based friends to support them at their gig.
“We have local artists Rachel Newton & Kate in the Kettle opening for us so it’s going to be a musical feast with lots of harps, vocals, strings, noises and fierce women,” Hannah added.
The Moulettes are formed of Hannah (vocals and cello), Oliver Austin (drums and vocals, bassist Jim Mortimore and Raevennan Husbandes on guitar.
However, the band are not just your normal four-piece art rock band, with their unique sound meaning that it is hard to pigeon-hole them into one genre, a fact Hannah is happy about.
“Our sound has continually changed and evolved, though I think it’s always identifiably Moulettes,” she said. “Our desire is to continually experiment, and I don’t feel constrained to occupy one generic space- nor would I want to.”
“We were described by R2 magazine ‘as equal parts Kronos quartet, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa, Kate Bush with echoes of early Pink Floyd, Bowie and Radiohead mixed in with the electronica of Kraftwerk and the acoustic melody of Pentangle. Precise, carefully crafted and genre defying.’”
“This is very flattering and makes us sound pretty mind-expanding, but I think Moulettes is always its own thing- an eclectic hybrid monster.”
Glasgow is the first stop of the band’s UK leg of their exhaustive two year world tour, with gigs in Manchester and Bristol still to come before the tour culminates in London.
The album they are touring to support, Prenatural, came out last May and Hannah describes it as a “strange brew.”
“We all love lots of different types of music, so this album is a strange brew,” she said.
“We set out to make it riff-heavy with unison electric cello, electric guitar and bass, with nods to Zappa and progressive bands of the seventies like Gentle Giant, but it has dreamy soundscape elements, groove-driven moods and psychedelic pop moments.”
So what can fans expect from their show at Oran Mor?
“Big riffs, vocal harmony, instrumental tangents, tight musicianship, detailed production and cerebral exploration… it’s a journey.”
The Moulettes play Oran Mor on the 4th December, with support from Rachel Newton and Kate in the Kettle. Tickets can be purchased online via Ticketweb.co.uk or by calling 08444 77 1000 and are priced at £14.
Pictures: http://sonicpr.co.uk/artists/moulettes/
