Latest news:
2004 saw some changes in the Crooked Mouth ranks. Piano-man Simon Ellis moved away from Edinburgh thanks to work commitments. Simon's replacement is multi- instrumentalist Alison Mitchell who played flute on Acrobat from the band's eponymous debut album. Another new face on the scene is ex-session bass and Chapman Stick player Mike McCann. The band has also seen the departure of Kenny Haig, so guitarist / composer Ken Campbell will undertake the duties of lead singer until they find a replacement. As to the new material, the band have put down the basis of 3 tracks: Iron Wonders, Delta and Two Worlds. Their plans for 2005 include completing these and other tracks with a view to working towards a new album in 2006.
New album:
After a great deal of thought, and bearing in mind the embarrassment of material recorded already, we have decided to shelve the projected "Too Many Goodbyes" album in favour of the newly christened "Studies In Heartbreak". Several reasons for this, but chief among them is the fact that there was no way we could have the vocals ready in time. So, as most of you know, it was time to put Plan B into action! As we always record two albums simultaneously, "Studies In Heartbreak" was born!
This will be an all-instrumental affair. One song long, 50 minutes or thereabouts, split into 6 chunks (From Hello To Goodbye, A Song For Karen, Studies In Heartbreak, The End Of A Life, Failures Of The Soul, Hourglass Fortune). We are very excited by the material on this CD and don't want to say too much about it at the moment. It is probably the most dramatic music we have ever recorded, featuring many classical styled motifs and arrangements, too. In addition, the usual jazz, folk, rock, funk, progressive and even blues influences all come to bear. There is some mean marimba and vibraphone work, too, oddly reminiscent of Pierre Moerlin's Gong! Not to mention some outrageous key and time changes. Very complex stuff and very melodic.
It is currently at the pre-mastering stage along with the artwork and all the other bits and pieces that need to be assembled to launch an album. It is still looking likely that it will be released April/May.
