‘Promises’: The album The Murder Capital label a “modern masterpiece”
While The Murder Captial might be one of the most exciting rising names in the new post-punk scene, their tastes expand far beyond rock. The other day, I stumbled upon a playlist they curated for Far Out last year, sharing some of their all-time favourite records, and was specifically struck by one stranger sound.
A handful of their picks are somewhat expected. Their frontman, James McGovern, chose cuts from Nick Cave, The Velvet Underground and My Bloody Valentine, piecing together a kind of tapestry that makes us their own heavy yet wistful sound.
When listening back to their latest record, Gigi’s Recovery, their selection of more shoegaze or lo-fi albums makes a lot of sense. As their sound parred back to a more thoughtful, sparse, yet cinematic sphere, the record moved between quiet moments and outright carnage to expert effect. That feels like a balancing act they picked up from the likes of DIIV, Yo La Tango or Beach House, all contributing some of McGovern’s top albums.
But then their selection gets even stranger. Jon Hopkins stands out as a gateway to broader influences for the band. “I’ve seen him live a few times. The first time I saw him, I was just crying because it was so beautiful, so emotional,” McGovern said about the musician, clearly moved by his merger of electronic music and more classical compositions.
He especially feels like a gateway to the album that McGovern declares “a fucking modern masterpiece”. He picked out Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders’ 2021 collaboration, Promises. Totally instrumental and utterly unique, the British producer Floating Points, along with his 16-piece troupe, are joined by jazz saxophonist Sanders as well as the full London Symphony Orchestra for this incredibly vast and beautiful record. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize for the obvious reason that it’s amazing, bringing together so many parts and different styles for something really special.
It’s the kind of music that defies genre, and The Murder Captial’s love for it proves that. “It’s this crazy soundscape of Pharoah Sanders playing saxophone in just the most prodigious way. And it’s got the London Symphony Orchestra as well,” McGovern said about it, talking with clear passion. “So it’s, like, massively expansive. It’s really crazy.”
It feels exactly like the kind of album that dared and empowered the Irish rock five-piece to be bigger. ‘Existence’, the album opener of their latest release, certainly borrows from its influence as the band are transformed into more of a soundscape or atmospheric troupe than any classic rock band. As that song rolls seamlessly into ‘Crying’, the album begins to feel more like one movement, akin to the Floating Points project they love so much.
Serving as a reminder to open yourself up to influences outside of your immediate field, The Murder Capital invite you to expand your musical mind.
