Mt. Wolf

By pellitero Май 19 2017, 10:49

Mt. Wolf, the London based trio formed by Stevie McMinn, Al Mitchell and Sebastian 'Bassi' Fox, are about to release their debut album "Aetherlight" three years after 'splitting-up', losing their main vocalist and two years after reforming.

"When Kate left, we thought the band wouldn't be able to carry-on without her," said lead singer Bassi. "A large part of the band's sound were her vocals. I started writing on my own while the other two guys were also experimenting with other singers and producers but we still hung-around as friends. One day after a couple of beers, we wondered: "why don't we bring Mt. Wolf together again?"... and we wrote the first song Red "

This 'cinematic' sound is something the band themselves strive for. According to Sebastian, "The National are a huge influence on the band, as well as Bon Iver, Hans Zimmer… soundtracks in general. Just because my style of production is quite ethereal and otherworldly, trying to create different soundscapes… for Stevie's guitar he would say Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley. Al's favorite drummers are John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and Charlie Smith, or at least these are the ones that most influenced him when he was learning."

After self-releasing the Red EP, the band met Charlie, head of their current label and also manager. The Aetherlight recording sessions started in July 2016 and were finished by February 2017, though the bulk of the album was recorded during the first three weeks. With the financial support of the label, the band were able to record live drums and strings for the first time under the supervision of producer Ken Thomas (Daughter, M83 and Sigur Rós). A further grant from collecting society PRS through their "Momentum fund", allowed the band to launch the release, to produce a video and to plan a UK Tour.

With seven of the album tracks having been released prior to the album, we talked about release strategy with 'Bassi'." Hex and Hamburg, were released before we wrote the album. The label wanted to put out some songs to build momentum towards the main release, and our main consideration was to choose the songs we wanted to put out first as they differ quite a lot. We then chose The Electric which was a big departure from our previous sound, a bit of a risk, but we wanted to do it".

We talked to several Last.fm users about why they love the band:

Last.fm user sirFrancisco tell us about discovering Mt. Wolf: "I love the light, peaceful and uplifting atmosphere they create. It's difficult to choose few favourite ones, because I like all of them, but I guess the tracks I listen to the most are: Anacrusis, Hamburg and Red. It's a great band to listen to if you're in the mood for some epic, monumental sounds. When I hear any of their tracks, I always picture driving in a car towards the sunset, or riding a bike somewhere through the woods. Something like that :)"

MadPop, a last.fm fan from Stockholm reminisces watching the band live for the first time; "They (together with Phoria) were the main reason I just had to go to the Dot-to-Dot festival in Bristol last year. And they did not disappoint. They show was amazing even though the venue was not in their favour. A tiny stage in the corner of a pub. I believe the place was called Start the Bus. I can't wait to see them live again. Hoping they will get the opportunity to come to Stockholm soon. If not I will probably make sure to catch them somewhere else"

scentMaster told us; "When I first heard Mt. Wolf with Anacrusis on the SXSW page I felt as if I found an old friend just to realize life has changed us both irrevocably and learn ourselves again bit by bit. The first thing that will strike you at Mt. Wolf is not so much the resemblance to the voice of Morten Harket (A-ha) or with the slow motion rock/post rock style of Sigur Rós, but the difference, the fact that you cannot seem to place them in a genre. Are they a 80's revival band? A 90's dream pop revival band? A slow motion-rock band or an alternative pop band? They are all of them, or even better none of them but something new. Anacrusis is the blurred line in between a sigh of relief after escaping a life threatening situation and the rush before starting the first day of the rest of your live, is the optimism in the darkness of the tunnel after you have seen the light of a star. Mt. Wolf don't tease they offer their success on a plate for you to have your share of pure British delight"

You can 'pre-add' the band's album to your Spotify library here or 'pre-order' it here or join the 'aetherlight' launch shows in London, Salford and Bristol before the September EU Tour commences. And be sure to visit the band's official website as well.