PRE-ORDER

‘Heart Under’ is the upcoming new studio album from Dundalk band Just Mustard and is available to pre-order now.

The band’s second album, their first for Partisan Records (Fontaines D.C., IDLES, Laura Marling) follows 2018’s stunning debut LP ‘Wednesday’ and the single ‘Seven’ released in 2020. With ‘Heart Under’, the band have transcended the influences of and comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, Portishead and created something startlingly inventive and thrillingly unique.

With barely a breath we are plunged into the rhythmic pulse of Eat Men Eat, which sort of straddles Bossa nova, eastern European folk and pummelling punk-rock. Is there anything this group can’t put there hand to? Welcome To Hell is, as the title suggests, a harder edged affair and recalls, as much of black midi’s work tends to, Red-era King Crimson. Welcome To Hell’s abrasive textures are also evocative of post-punk, yet its compositional and technical aptitude are certainly more prog than punk.

‘Heart Under’ is an album that asks you to forget what you know. At every turn, this remarkable record reconfigures and stretches the ideas and ambition of a rock band, and turns a year of lockdown and personal struggles into a breathtaking artistic statement.

Across its 10 tracks, the album presents a coherent style and ethos – those scything guitars, Katie’s magical vocals – but still incorporates a wide and untethered vision. There are brooding, atmospheric rock songs (‘Still’, ‘In Shade’) and others that apply a lighter, dreamier touch (‘Sore’, ‘Mirrors’), all tied together with impeccable instrumentation and a united vision.

On ‘Wednesday’, the band played with dreamier soundscapes and production techniques, and ‘Heart Under’ serves as the next stage of this development, with every instrument brilliantly pushed to its limit and every boundary of the band stretched.

Just Mustard ~ ‘Heart Under’ is out on 27th May and available to pre-order now on Transparent Blue Vinyl, Standard Vinyl & CD.