After some pre-release singles, the Dublin experimental five-piece Meltybrains? have released their first full-length debut album today entitled You.
The band released an EP entitled Kiss Yourself in 2016, along with 2019’s Free Kyle EP, but tended to focus on singles like ‘The Vine’, ‘Donegal’, ‘IV’, ‘New Don’ or covering the National Anthem in a warped stylee. Songs which demonstrated a wide range of styles from ambient electronic to electro to vocoder pop, all writ large in the band’s instrumental dynamics.
In their own words, the 12-track You is “an exploration of the journey of five young men, trying to get from one end of their 20s to the other. Much like the making of the album, this journey was trickier than any of them thought it would be.”
“This record is for you, from you and of you. It’s an absolute beginner’s guide to the microcosm, the macrocosm and everything in between.”
“It’s also a bit of fun and a pretty good record, combining influences from footwork, drone and j-pop with krautrock, psychedelia and prog.”
You features the the psychedelic kraut-rock ‘A Journey To/From The Meltyworld’, ‘Space Ghetto’, ‘Worth’, and ‘Ease My Mind’.
The voice of JDFR is heard on last song ‘Alone With Buddha’ too.
Listen here:
Meltybrains? You Tracklisting
- I Haven’t A Clue
- A Journey To/From The Meltyworld
- Yes Man
- Easelude
- Ease That Mind
- Mouthlude
- Space Ghetto
- Bitten By The System
- Worth
- Worthlude
- Listen To Me
- Alone With Buddha
Buy on Bandcamp +strangebrew.ie
Live
Meltybrains? launch the album this Thursday January 26th at the Sugar Club.
Meltybrains? – You
‘You’ has been years in the making – an exploration of the journey of five young men, trying to get from one end of their 20s to the other. Much like the making of the album, this journey was trickier than any of them thought it would be.
‘You’ is an exploration of what it means to be a young man in Ireland in the 21st century, an exploration of what it means to be a person in the modern world and an exploration of what it means to be. It signifies an internal journey to (hopefully) some kind of peace of mind. It’s a trip through the cosmos, to the centre of the universe and the centre of the self, and to an understanding that the two may not be that different.
Written in fits and spurts over a number of years, the album lays out the first chapter of a band who have every intention of being in a band forever. A band in both the musical sense, but also a band of brothers; a group who have helped each other get this far and will try and help each other as much as they can. Sometimes that help involves writing songs, sometimes it involves hugs and words of consolation and sometimes it involves giving each other a boost over the wall so they can get back the ball they lost in a game of ‘try and knock the plastic bottle into the skip with the rugby ball’.
‘You’ tells a story that’s been told over and over again, the same story that everyone knows- the universality of the individual. In an era of individuality and solipsism, the ultimate message of the album is that everyone has a similar journey to go on. And much like the album itself, you just do it in your own way. The record is about the band, exploring their own lives, but ultimately the record wasn’t made for them – it was for you.
About Meltybrains?
Meltybrains? are a group of friends who get together to play music, make art and be a positive influence in each other’s lives. They are five young Irish men who started a band with the intention of making great music and putting on great live shows. They did just that for a number of years, creating incredibly imaginative electronic soundscapes, as well as performing highly theatrical live shows with an infectious and incendiary energy. Past releases received great responses from a number of sources, with singles Donegal, IV and The Vine featuring on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist as well as getting featured on blogs such as Clash, Q Magazine and Boiler Room. The band also gained a notorious reputation for outrageous live shows and have played in festivals and venues such as SXSW, Iceland Airwaves and London’s St. Pancras Church, in the past.
After years of constant gigging and writing, the band slowed down over the last few years, as they got older and the realities of life caught up with them. As Meltybrains? took a backseat, various members of the group used the opportunity to work with other Irish artists, including Dermot Kennedy, Gilla Band, Denise Chaila, Loah, Lilla Vargen & Talos. Despite a number of setbacks, they stayed together to support each other in hard times and after a challenging number of years, Meltybrains? are returning with their debut album – You.
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