Acclaimed singer-songwriter Mark Mulcahy returns with his brand-new LP, The Gus, which will be available on Friday, June 7 on the Mezzotint Label. The Gus is Mulcahy’s sixth solo record and follows 2017’s dynamic The Possum in the Driveway and his celebrated 2013 return record, Dear Mark J Mulcahy I Love You. Consequence of Sound premiered the album’s first song, “Taking Baby Steps,” today via a new video directed by Jason Mazzotta and features fellow musician Andy Goulet.
Long heralded by contemporary luminaries like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and covered by touchstone artists such as The National and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Mulcahy refuses to rest on laurels and turn out the same type of album twice. Inspired to “up his lyrical game” while reading a collection of short fiction by George Saunders, The Gus finds the songwriter channeling his eclectic voice and ear for melody into the role of storyteller more than ever before. The result is 10 infectious songs that combine Mulcahy’s unique window on the world with stories that absorb listeners more with each spin.
As in the best short stories, songs like “Wicked World” and “Later for the Box” take ordinary situations and deftly peel back the layers to reveal something far deeper occurring. “Mr. Bell” places Mulcahy in the shoes of Trump supporters. “Daisy Marie” wants to kill her love. All these “little stories,” as Mulcahy calls them, try to cast light in the corners of the room while understanding that sometimes the truth remains in shadow. Aunts, uncles, couples, killers and secrets. The lead track, “Taking Baby Steps,” grinds a metallic guitar into a gentle sing-song. “It’s the story of letting a long lost friend off the hook.”
“This album was such an exploration.” Mulcahy explains. “If anyone ever wanted to listen to all the takes we recorded, they’d be there a while.” He and producer Marc Seedorf (J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr.) began with the ambitious notion of recording the entire record with strangers. When that didn’t pan out, Mulcahy turned to regular collaborator Ken Maiuri (Pedro the Lion, B-52s) and others and they eventually found a groove.
“It took some time to get locked in,” Mulcahy admits, “but that made me think of some people and ideas I might not have otherwise.” Those people included Rain Phoenix, who lends her plaintive voice to one of the characters on tragic opener “Wicked World,” J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), who lends his inimitable guitar sound to multiple tracks, John Panos (Augustines, Mates of State) and others. Mulcahy lets all of their musical personalities mesh with his instincts as a songwriter for a sound that drips honey, whispers, and rumbles to complement the complex characters found in his stories.
The main studio, Barnhouse Recordings, is a circular library with a studio in the middle. A million books from God Created the Integers to Horton Hears a Who. If the tracking wasn’t happening, a lot of days just became “read and swim sessions.” Mulcahy recalls, “Wasted time with a purpose. Waiting for somebody to come with an idea. People would come by just to read. Then we started getting out of there. We recorded some piano at J’s, the cello at the Unitarian church, Rain did her tracks in LA, then down to New Haven for obvious reasons. One day it was done. We could just tell. All the words fit. We had a cast party, listened, laughed and cried. Soon it was mixed and mastered and voila, The Gus!”
In addition to his celebrated solo career, audiences may also know Mulcahy as the frontman of seminal ’80s rock band Miracle Legion or as “Muggy Polaris,” ringleader of Polaris, the fictional house band of the beloved ’90s Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Both Miracle Legion and Polaris have reunited in recent years to tour and will likely do it again.
Mulcahy will be touring a lot in support of The Gus, both with band and solo. UK dates in August/September with US dates announced soon.
The Gus will be available on CD, vinyl and all streaming platforms.
Track Listing:
Wicked World
Daisy Marie
Taking Baby Steps
Later for the Box
I Won’t Tell Anyone but You
People: Beware
Mr. Bell
Happy Boat
A Long Time Ago
What If I Go off with Bob
Photo credit: R. Murray
2 Responses
Great News!
Looking forward to hearing his new record….