Muzz
Muzz
Matador
Released 5th June 2020
The pandemic has caused havoc for release schedules, with many album releases now being postponed indefinitely, but all is not lost as there is some fine stuff still being released or maybe better described as trickling through and ‘Muzz’ is one of them.
Muzz is Interpol frontman Paul Banks, Matt Barrick from The Walkmen on drums and Bonny Light Horseman’s multi-instrumentalist: Josh Kaufman, who has worked with The War on Drugs and The National over the years. Kaufman’s use of the word muzz, to describe ‘a texture of sound’ that can be heard in old recordings, gave the band their name.
Whilst Interpol’s songs seem to be well suited to concrete surroundings, isolation and claustrophobia, Muzz have a completely different sound. If ‘Muzz’ was the aural equivalent of a book it would probably be more reflective of Jack Kerouac than J.G. Ballard. Although ‘Muzz’ has Banks’ haunting baritone – albeit more fragile on this record, ‘Muzz’ has much in common with Leonard Cohen and Neil Young at their deepest.
With songs that yearn for a peace of mind and open space, ‘Muzz’ is an album that is both timelessly cinematic and an extremely pleasing listen.
4/5
Words: David Nobakht
