Mother Of Mars
‘I Hear’
Vinyl / download / stream
March 5th
Ransom Note Records
Stream/share first single ‘Durga & Demon’
On March 5th Ransom Note Records present ‘I Hear’ – the debut album by Vito Roccoforte and Gabriel Andruzzi – AKA Mother Of Mars. The pair are best known as members of era-defining NY post punkers The Rapture, and are now joined by third bandmate Jaiko Suzuki, on vocals.
With new-and-improved circumstances and the help of Japanese New Yorker Suzuki, the duo (now a trio) have come a long way from their former band. Full of sonic wanderlust, they’ve ventured down different tributaries, journeying into psych, kosmische, avant garde, fourth world and new age dreamscapes.
Mother Of Mars maintain the live-drummed rhythmic engine of The Rapture, but delve deep into cerebral, transcendental wormholes. Although an entirely different proposition, ‘I Hear’ shares a certain kinetic sensibility with their past incarnation, bringing to mind Baldelli’s Cosmic sound, Balearic beat and the euphoric peaks of acid house. Technicolour bleeps, drones, tones, ethereal singing and a plethora of percussion interweave, like a fractal mosaic in harmonious sensorium.
Starting skeletal and echoic, the lazer-guided ride of ‘Durga & Demon’ soon kicks in, sounding like Neu throwing shapes at A Love From Outer Space. Over ten-ish minutes the chugging, trance-dance throb lifts you off the ground in a heady, strobe-lit atmosphere of undulating arpeggios and lightning-bolt stabs.
With the first trip over – now languishing in the chill out room with newfound enlightenment – is the sparkling torch song ‘I Hear’. Jaiko’s harmonised vox float gorgeously over a gentle motorik pulse and flashing fairy light synths, which soothe frayed edges to a warm glow.
The bossa-nova Hawkwind vibes of ‘Fall Sing’ are circular, but ever changing, kaleidoscope like – with a simmering pressure cooker energy, dappled by Jaiko’s cumulonimbus dreampop tones. On ‘Matteruno’ she sings sweetly in her mother tongue, adorning a strange juxtaposition of Midori Takada and The Art Of Noise.
Like Terry Riley flying through aurora borealis, ‘Through The’ is weird-funk-meets-electronic-minimalism – a climatic tapestry made on cheap Casio gear. Ending the album on a peak is the acid-laced dream-state rush of ‘Space Without A Shadow’, which charts a 45 degree upward trajectory and doesn’t stop until nirvana.
In The Rapture Vito Roccoforte played drums and percussion, whilst Gabriel Andruzzi provided keyboards, bass, saxophone, and additional percussion. The band scored 3 top 40 singles in the UK charts and released 4 albums – some of which made Album Of The Year lists in Pitchfork, Spin, Rolling Stone and NME.
Labels to release The Rapture’s music include Sub Pop, DFA, Vertigo, Universal, Trevor Jackson’s Output and Mowtown. Producers who’ve worked with the band include Timbaland, Danger Mouse, Paul Epworth, Ewan Pearson and Phillipe Zdar (RIP).
They played Glastonbury twice, Coachella four times, also appearing at Primavera, Benicassim, Montreux Jazz Festival, Latitude and Field Day. They supported Daft Punk on their North American tour and the Cure as part of their Curiosa Festival.
Despite this formidable success and huge popularity, the band split. “The internal dynamics were difficult, which made it hard to work together. The atmosphere was competitive a lot of the time, rather than collaborative”, recalls Vito.
"I gave the majority of my time, energy and love to The Rapture for over 10 years, only for one of the other members to try and erase me from the story, and eventually attempt to kick me out. To say the least this was incredibly saddening, and thus, I was not eager to be in band again. Creating a studio space with Vito, partaking in collaborations and eventually shedding illusions of the music industry led to a space where I was able create with Jaiko and Vito – making what I believe are a lovely bunch of songs together", comments Gabriel.
First playing out as The Rapture DJs, before making house, techno and re-edits as Vito and Druzzi, the duo then then circled back to more live and organic music, but this time not rock-based. “We started jamming and experimenting, and we honed our studio skills”, says Vito. “We didn’t have to worry about previously defined roles and expectations. There were no demands, so we could really stretch out. It was very freeing.”
Mother of Mars’ first release, the ‘Seed 2 Sky’ EP came out on Ransom Note Records in 2018. Knowing Jaiko for years as a drummer and DJ, Vito saw her sing at a party at was blown away by her voice, so the pair asked her to write and record with them. She first appeared on ‘Space Without A Shadow’, which was released as a single earlier this year and gained DJ support from Optimo, Tim Sweeney (Beats In Space), Andy Butler (Hercules & Love Affair) and Auntie Flo.
Helping bring the album into sharp, multi-layered focus was renowned producer/musician/DJ Ewan Pearson, who adds mixing duties for ‘I Hear’ to a CV that also includes Steven Wilson, Gwenno, Royksopp, The Chemical Brothers, Goldfrapp, M83, Tracey Thorn and Metronomy.
The album was mastered by Sarah Register , who has also worked with Yaeji, Lee “Scratch Perry”, Amon Tobin, Depeche Mode, Ami Dang, Laurie Anderson, Goat, Allen Ginsberg and Sonic Youth.
Track-list:
01 | ‘Durga & Demon’
02 | ‘I Hear’
03 | ‘Fall—Sing’
04 | ‘Matteruno’
05 | ‘Through The’
06 | ‘Space Without A Shadow’
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