New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Following on from their 111-song debut album, MEN (2013), and its considerably shorter follow-up, 11 Shades Of Love (2015), Quiet Marauder's third full album for Bubblewrap
Collective is a conceptual narrative collaboration with Mathias Kom of Canadian indie-pop wordsmiths The Burning Hell.
The Crack And What It Meant describes the emergence of a 'Crack' in time and space in the rural suburbs of Kent and the subsequent social panics, economic posturing, divisional blame games and global belief systems that arrive as a consequence. Narrated by the deep drawl of Kom, the album's 30 tracks veer between short War Of The World synthscapes, pop-folk balladry, post-ironic show tunes and shuffling indie-rock; all tied together by the multiple underlying storylines. These include the death (and rebirth) of science, mass media antagonists, the ambivalent progress of global capitalism, the opening (and closure) of The Crack's Costa Coffee franchise and the rise (and fall) of tramp-turned-soothsayer
Daniel alongside his burgeoning, prospering belief system. Band leader
Simon M. Read explains some of the decision-making process:
"We wanted to create a story that, while more or less making sense in its own right, could be metaphorically applied elsewhere. The writing process has been ongoing for about four years and it started as a really convoluted break-up album but, even more weirdly, has become just as applicable to Brexit, political division, absolutism and the distrust of expertise. It got quite heavy. And confusing. We had to research economic glossaries and government spending on tanks. And Kent-based tourist attractions - big props to Westgate Gardens!"
Intertwining the complex high-concepts and broad instrumentation of Arcade Fire, with the warm, spiky melodicism of The Wave
Pictures and the wide-eyed, quick-witted lyricism of Vivian Stanshall, The Crack And What It Meant will be released on 26th April 2019 as a limited edition CD with illustrated booklet and cut-out sleeve.
The album will be preceded by singles The Discovery and What Happened To Science? In March 2019 and will be launched in Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach on 2nd May 2019 with a UK tour following in June alongside The Burning Hell.
Tour Dates
May 2nd - Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach
June 25th - Brighton - Hope and Ruin
June 27th - Manchester - The Deaf Institute
June 28th - Bristol - The Louisiana
June 30th - London - The Lexington
