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We’re super excited to announce the new Mammal Hands album, Floa will be released on Gondwana Records on 27/05/2016 on LP/CD and DL. Produced by Matthew Halsall and recorded/mixed/mastered by George Atkins at 80 Hertz Studios in Manchester the album also features string players from The Gondwana Orchestra on tracks ‘In The Treetops’ and ‘The Falling Dream’. The beautiful artwork is by Gondwana’s in-house designer Daniel Halsall. You can catch the band live on tour too – see below for tour dates.
Source: Tim Stenhouse / ukvibe.org
Here is a welcome return for East Anglian band Mammal Hands who weigh in with a strong follow up to the excellent debut that came out Gondwana eighteen months ago in ‘Animalia’. Once again minimalist cover graphics, possibly a nod to the Factory label that became inextricably linked with the Manchester indie scene, make this CD stand out from the crowd and the same can certainly be said of the music within.
Mammal Hands have carved out their own distinctive path that takes on multiple influences that range from Sufi and African trance to eastern European and Irish folk influences. Contemporary improvised and electronica music are skilfully weaved into the mix and Weather Report are surely one of the major jazz influences for the band. This reviewer immediately warmed to the intimacy of ‘Hourglass’ and the ability of the band to conjure up seemingly simple, yet highly effective and melodic collective riffs, with an empathy between piano and saxophone evident here. That should come as little surprise since they are the brotherly nucleus of the band in pianist Nick Smart and saxophonist Jordan Smart.
A real favourite is the North African flavoured ‘Think anything’ that has at once a supplementary and complementary Latin undercurrent with sensitive percussive accompaniment from regular drummer and tabla player, Jesse Barrett. At times the interplay between musicians takes the breath away as illustrated on the percussion plus saxophone intro to ‘Kudu’. Hints of acoustic period Steps Ahead emerge on ‘Hillum’, with another pretty folk-tinged melody and the lilting hues of ‘Quiet fire’. This is music for the twenty-first century, and very much in keeping with the musical ‘global village’ that we now inhabit. What marks Mammal Hands out from the rest is the creative use of such resources while still retaining their own image.
If Mammal Hands receive sufficient promotion, they will surely appeal to an audience well beyond the already committed jazz fraternity and there is floating quality to their work in general that is not without recalling the most lyrical of EST. Mammal Hands will be performing live on the bank holiday Saturday (27 May) at the launch of their new album in their native city of Norwich and on 31 May at the Jazz Café in London. Tim Stenhouse
01. Quiet Fire
02. Hillum
03. Hourglass
04. Think Anything
05. In The Treetops
06. The Eyes That Saw The Mountain
07. Kudu
08. The Falling Dream
09. Shift
released May 27, 2016
Jordan Smart, saxophone
Nick Smart, piano
Jesse Barrett, drums and tabla
All tracks composed by Mammal Hands
Produced by Matthew Halsall
Recorded by George Atkins at 80 Hertz
Mixed by George Atkins, Matthew Halsall & Mammal Hands at 80 Hertz
Mastered by George Atkins at 80 Hertz
Artwork and design by Daniel Halsall
℗ & © Gondwana Records 2016
UK Tour Dates
30/05/16 – The Bell – Bath
31/05/16 – Jazz Café – London
02/06/16 – Hare and Hounds – Birmingham
08/06/16 – The Latest Music Bar – Brighton
10/06/16 – Old Malt House – Bristol
11/06/16 – GWIDIHW – Cardiff
12/06/16 – Hifi Club – Leeds
25/06/16 – Glasgow Jazz Festival (Hug and Pint) – Glasgow
15/07/16 – Zeffirellis – Ambleside
27/07/16 – The Lescar – Sheffield
28/07/16 – Manchester Jazz Festival (Band on the Wall) – Manchester
31/07/16 – Kendal Calling – Lake District
27/08/16 – Shambala – Northamptonshire
04/09/16 – Valley Fest – Somerset
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