Led by frontman Zak Thomas and recorded mainly in his Cardiff tattoo studio, Muriel’s self-titled debut is an exceptionally honest and intimate experience. What may, at first, seem like a fairly straightforward acoustic indie album, hides layer after layer of sonic depth and understated ambience with plenty of lyrical intricacy to pick apart.
From the album’s opening tracks ‘Blue Village’ and ‘Seaside Painter’, Muriel make it clear that there’s something deeper going on here. Beneath the leading nylon string guitar strums and lilting vocals, subtle slide guitar, backing drones and tasteful piano flourishes create layers of exploratory ambience that elevate the band’s sound, bringing them closer to the labyrinthine ambience of artists like Godspeed You! Black Emperor or The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die than the stripped down acoustic sound that many artists fall back on. Lead single ‘Seaside Painter’ takes full advantage of everything the band has at their disposal, keeping Thomas’ vocals and classical guitar at a relatively even pace while filling every inch of empty space with other guitar lines, synths, Rachael Crabbe’s ethereal backing vocals and punchy drum lines.
“From the album’s opening tracks “Blue Village” and “Seaside Painter”, Muriel make it clear that there’s something deeper going on here”
The production on this album brings an entirely new dimension to the experience, with contributions from Tom Bromley of emo stalwarts Los Campersinos! and ex-Flaming Lips drummer Kliph Scurlock. Even relatively simple tracks like ‘Passing Fields’, which sonically focuses more on Thomas’ vocals and classical guitar than other, denser songs, are filled with a full, scratchy ambience and natural reverb from the unconventional recording space. Not only do Muriel keep every scrape of fingers moving across the guitar’s fretboard and buzz of every perfectly imperfect note intact, they utilise them as a form of emphasis and deeper connection with the intimate lyrical content.
A highlight on the album is the track ‘Lavender By The Frames’, perfectly balancing Muriel’s evocative lyrical imagery and intricate sonic layering to create an altogether unique experience. With American Football style electric guitar embellishments from guitarist Andy Olivieri over understated backing vocals and Thomas’s confidently calm voice and classical guitar lines, “Lavender By The Frames” paints a delicate picture of personal growth in trying times with a detailed and focused hand.
“Not only do Muriel keep every scrape of fingers moving across the guitar’s fretboard and buzz of every perfectly imperfect note intact, they utilise them as a form of emphasis and deeper connection with the intimate lyrical content.”
The closing two tracks on the record ‘Body Of Light’ and ‘Walking Just To Walk’ work beautifully as a restrained crescendo to end the album on, with one leading straight into the other, gaining in emotional intensity while retaining Muriel’s trademark subtleties. The former track ‘Body Of Light’ builds up around a fairly uncomplicated chord progression, laying sheets of gentle sonic details on top of each other over poetic vocals lamenting the need to change to overcome tragedy. The album’s final track ‘Walking Just To Walk’ takes the lessons learned throughout the other eight songs and applies them, building ambience over a repeated vocal phrase with haunting drones and scratchy, reverb drenched guitars, fading out as soon as it enters. It’s a bold gut-punch ending to an album full of confident creative choices that leaves the listener yearning for a follow up.
Muriel stand out by subtly breaking free of genre on their debut album, daringly embellishing their acoustic indie sound with intricate ambience and subtle experimentation to create one of the year’s most interesting debuts.