Mancitydoogle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 7 Aug 2017
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- 1,499
You are correct, and you're welcome for today's softball right over the plate. That was actually the Manchester Orchestra in the musical group photo.
Both you and @threespires know from our Playlist thread quite well on my enjoyment for this band and this selection.
A Black Mile To The Surface – Manchester Orchestra
(part 2 of my “Manchester” related selections)
Released in 2017, this album was the first by Atlanta group Manchester Orchestra that really drew me in to them and their sound. It was their 5th album, but with this release they reached well beyond their existing emo and alternative rock fanbase into the indie and Americana influences, to amazing success. In many aspects, this album was a reset to what the band had recorded prior. I’ve enjoyed all of their albums since going back to their beginnings, but this is the one I come back to as being my favourite.
Created and led by lead singer and guitarist Andy Hull, he chose the group name location due to the rich music history that has come from the City of Manchester after a summer of listening to “nothing but The Smiths”. Andy chose "Orchestra" as part of the name because he "didn't want to be in a band" and envisioned having “his friends come and be a part forming an orchestra".
The group certainly lives up to the sound with this album, and what originally attracted me to it on the whole were the lyrical themes that run throughout it. They changed their normally crunchy guitars that ran through most tracks and focused more on the story here, with the help of producer Catherine Marks (Foals, PJ Harvey, The Killers, Interpol) and recorded most of the tracks at Asheville’s Echo Mountain studio in my home state of NC.
The album has singles some may have heard on their own, but each song contributes towards the overall themes that really resonated with me. To me, they are:
The central motif found in variations in songs of the album that there's nothing you've got when you die that you keep, is centered on Andy’s statement that “when this life ends, all you can do is hopefully affect and influence what happens after you.”
- The <Tracks> – each song (except one) is titled “The ____” and deals with a specific item, but still adds to the various thematic components throughout.
- Fatherhood
- Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in – tracks 2, 3, and 4 (title location of where this is) and the isolation of such that is the album title found in track 2 lyrics
- Narrative theme of childhood abuse – middle tracks
- Faith and Love and the Circle of Life
I’ve seen Manchester Orchestra up close three times live in very small venues, and they’ve delivered each and every time. I would highly recommend if you are able to catch them live (Castle Combe, UK at 2000trees on 11 July this summer). I’ve seen Andy perform solo and part of his Bad Books side-project too, and the stripped-down versions of a few of the songs with just an acoustic guitar was amazing as well. Enjoy!
Manchester Orchestra recorded this YouTube concert video of the entire album during Covid back at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville. Manchester Orchestra Presents: A Black Mile To The Surface (The Concert Film) is a tremendous live recording that captures the essence of the album too. Primarily for fans of, check it out:
Not a band who i’d heard of ,until the odd song appeared on the playlist thread,and from those tracks and listening to the start of this album I think I’m going to enjoy this pick.