Meursault @ Stag & Dagger Festival, Glasgow, 23 May

Article by Jamie Scott | 28 Apr 2009

Albert Camus' Meursault is a man persecuted, and eventually executed, for his distinct inability to react with the same expanse of emotions as the rest of us. The death of his mother fails to cast a shadow upon him, and the resulting shock this causes society leads him to be ostracized. Edinburgh's equivalent certainly couldn't be accused of the same dispassion: frontman and songwriter Neil Pennycook possesses the loudest voice in the capital, one that drips with passion and romance, and Meursault's debut, Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues, was enthusiastically received by fans and critics alike. At once endearing, earnest and unpredictable, it is a record which strikes a note of both beauty and confusion, the songs slowly working their way into your heart.

Live, they are unafraid to strip away the clipping electronic beats and synths from their sound, frequently playing acoustic shows where they swap ukuleles, harmoniums and banjos. The album artwork was done by Cammy Watt AKA Enfant Bastard; Neil also plays with Withered Hand, and with two songs about William Henry Miller, they are irrevocably an Edinburgh band, transported from the East to the West to continue building their glowing reputation. Full of passion, drama and, like their namesake, quite distinctive.

Meursault play The Skinny stage at Glasgow School of Art alongside The Phantom Band, White Denim, Clark, KONX-OM-PAX and Jacob Yates.

http://www.myspace.com/meursaulta701