MINT, aptly named after the numerous mint-references in cultmovie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, used to be the kind of band that is mostly known and respected by the small group of true rock-connaisseurs. But that bubbling under kind of status changed drastically whith the release of their second album `Magnetism` in 2006.
With it`s hitsingles `Your shopping lists are poetry` and `The magnetism of pure gold`, the album was quickly embraced by the Belgian audience. And with the press and radio following suit the whole thing snowballed. Some facts: more than one hundred US radiostations spun tracks from `Magnetism`. `Your shopping lists are poetry` topped both Belgian, Dutch ànd US listener`s charts. The Magnetismtour went well over the hundred live shows-marker, including a memorable show on Pukkelpop`s mainstage. `Your shopping lists are poetry` was used in a glossy German TV-commercial. The band was nominated for a TMF-award and won a PIL-award. And on one autumn`s Sunday in 2006 MINT even made Belgium`s eighty something Queen Fab dance. Erhm yes indeed! Amidst all this singer and songwriter Erwin Marcisz kept writing new songs and in early 2007 the band - consisting further of Erwin`s brother Philippe Marcisz on bass, Kim Windmolders on synths, Steve Janssens on guitar and Tim Claes on drums � started working on this material. The result is `Hinterland`, a brilliant indie pop gem that shows a band flirting with the boundaries of their self-created musical universe. Once again joining forces with golden duo John Morand & Alan Weatherhead, MINT has succeeded in crafting an album of songs that sound familiar and intriguing in equal measure. From the sad freak-folkversus- casiobeats balladry of `IVR, the friendly voice` to the synth-drenched headbutt-riff of `Giving blood to machines`, from the psychedelic summer pop of `White line` to the infectious melancholy of `Brand new toy` with its sublimely cast children`s choir, it definitely is quite an adventurous route. But, the guides are trustworthy and the views are thrilling! Marcisz hangs his metaphors in unlikely places and creates a puzzling lyrical scenery that complements naturally with the je-ne-sais-quoi shoegazer aestethic of the music. Everything culminates in Hinterland`s title track; an epic song of aching beauty ending in a haunting banjo melody that seems to recall the gloomy national anthem of a forlorn centraleuropean country. `Hinterland` is intense, fascinating and simply beautiful. `Hinterland` is released in the Benelux on the reputed Münich Records, the 15th of February 2008. |
Limburg