A Monument

Description

The birth of something truly interesting musically that creates a dark, lamenting and enchanting world. Loud & Quiet

Like an absinthe-drenched dance band in a decaying ballroom Its all a brave and evocative mess. Tu Fawning are capable of something extraordinary. Uncut

Right up there with hearing Kate Bushs A Kick Inside for the first time; a wonderful headscratcher. A curious, compelling whole. MOJO

Portlands TU FAWNING return this May with their sophomore release titled A Monument. A mere nine songs short, but enough time to confirm the suspicion raised by the bands debut album Hearts On Hold: Can it be that this band sets itself apart from everything else out there right now? Yes, this is proof.

A Monument is in fact a very different record, all the more reason for us to appreciate this band and their artistic merits. Live TU FAWNING deliver a dense, romantic, highly energetic live show, much more powerful than their debut album would have led you to imagine. And on A Monument this sparkles through on every track.

A Monument offers exactly nine very different pieces to that beautiful and unusual TU FAWNING style. Tracks like Blood Stains have moved Tu Fawning south, more the Down Under type of south, with the warped RnB styles of a Birthday Party or early Bad Seeds. Less the atonality and surely sans the testosterone. And likewise Wager lifts some moment of orchestral nausea out of a Crime And The City Solution track, converting it into a real song. Not all gothic, but certainly all dark. Weird, eccentric, timeless are user-friendly adjectives for the simple minded when trying to describe a band such as this. And lets not forget dramatic! Does it get anymore dramatic than Build A Great Cliff ? Take a rollercoaster ride with the epic seven and a half minute album closer that is Bones ? The latter showing that there is indeed also a sense of playfulness here.

Above and beyond the usual guitar, bass, keys, drums, the record feautures instrumentation such as a ragini, a tuned
down marching band drum, old 80s synths, actually lots of synths, those samples of South American chants turned into chords. Not to mention the degenerated Four Track recorders, dying guitar pedals, but most importantly: turning your back to the microphone and yelling. Monumental indeed!