Meursault: Crow Hill @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 15 Aug

Sonically, there is plenty to enjoy tonight from Meursault, but without the promised visual elements, there's a real sense of missed opportunity

Live Review by Lewis Wade | 16 Aug 2018

With Pussy Riot signing merch in the courtyard, Summerhall is still abuzz with activity as Carla J. Easton takes the stage at 11.15pm. She treats the 40 or so assembled punters to a series of dazzling ballads, delivered with feeling and gusto with just a keyboard for accompaniment, interspliced with stories that range from seeing a horse outside the kitchen to contracting viral meningitis.

There's no significant increase in crowd size as a six-piece Meursault take the stage a little after midnight. However, tables and chairs are smattered in front of the stage to give the impression of a more dramatic performance. The show is advertised as a performance of Crow Hill, an upcoming album, feature film and graphic novel, “accompanied by projections, dancers and actors.” However, as Pennycook laments early on, the show is missing several of its “visual” elements, so it's ultimately just a faithful performance of a new album in its entirety.

Now, this is no bad thing in and of itself – the band sound great, and Pennycook gives a typically raw, engaging account of the material – but, with the projector set up and space for more experimental delivery, it's clear that something is missing.

Crow Hill is comprised of the songs that appeared on the briefly available Fuck Off Back to Art School & Other Stories, but reordered and possibly reimagined. The material varies wildly from gentle, vocal-oriented cuts like Run, Harmony, Run and Nakhla Dog, to proto-metal noise rock, through a couple of folktronica experiments à la Pissing on Bonfires / Kissing with Tongues and a plaintively poignant cover of Hank Williams' I Heard My Mother Praying For Me.

Sonically, there is plenty to enjoy with the variety of the songs, the scene-setting radio chatter, the resplendent violin, but without the promised visual elements, there's a real sense of missed opportunity.

https://iammeursault.bandcamp.com/