The Mummers

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Venue: Tutu's
Date: 20 April 2011
Price(s): Admits One £10.70, concessions £6.70 - all prices include booking fee of £0.70 per ticket
Doors: 7.30pm
Close: 11.00pm
Restrictions: Over 16s only

Since the introduction of their debut album, 2009’s critically acclaimed ‘Tale To Tell’, the next chapter of Brighton based big-band The Mummers’ surreal, fairytale adventure disclosed a dark and devastating twist.

It was the fresh and otherworldly orchestral sound of Raissa Khan-Panni’s songcraft, all created from The Mummers creative hub in a treehouse studio on the South Coast that drew them such quick attention. Widespread critical acclaim and countless sold-out shows followed, heralding Raissa as a Bjork-esque star figure with the theatre of Rufus Wainwright.

The Mummers’ rapidly growing success found Raissa jetting out to Miami to meet with the Wu Tang Clan’s record label in a whirlwind 24 hour journey. With the excitement and anticipation of what was soon to follow still palpable, the magic and drama didn’t foresee the sudden suicide of fellow founding member and The Mummers’ orchestrator, Mark Horwood. Discovered within the confines of their spiritual home, the ever-sacred treehouse, it shook every member of The Mummers to their very core, and a period of contemplation sent them burrowing underground indefinitely.

But like all realistic fairytales, from the darkness comes the light, and ‘Mink Hollow Road’ is their first steps into embracing what the band has since become. Now based on Brighton seafront, within another home-built studio, The Mummers are arguably an all- stronger force for the tragedy.

Mink Hollow Road is located somewhere between Woodstock and New York, a sprawling valley surrounded by tall pine forests, and curiously reminiscent of the countryside that surrounded their old home.

Described by Raissa as the band entering their ‘cocoon’ stage, the mini album is fronted by a reanimation of Todd Rundgren’s ‘Fade Away’, which Raissa first heard on the radio whilst mid-way through that trip to Miami (which also acted as vivid inspiration for ‘Driving Home’). It is a lesser known song of Rundgren’s, but one that has quickly transformed into a classic Mummers standard.

Elsewhere, ‘Call Me A Rainbow’, similarly to ‘Fade Away’ focuses on the ephemeral nature of things, and the feeling that you are being suspended mid-air, looking over all that goes on beneath you. ‘Your Voice’ meanwhile, harnesses the ghostly aura of birdsong recorded outside the treehouse, with a disembodied yet expressive coo from Raissa.

‘Cherry Heart’ takes The Mummers soaring into the future, with a song set in the 23rd century, about a girl not realising that she is in fact a robot. It was written for legendary video director Steve Baron’s new sci-fi series, Slingers.

What The Mummers continue to create is the hazy vision of a fantasy world, and one where the imagination works overtime to aid and colour the music. Marching bands, circus swirls, orchestral showtime pomp are all evoked, and kissed by Raissa’s hugely distinctive Westside Story vocal.

Legend has it that the band played on. The Mummers have too, and Mink Hollow Road sees them opening a fresh and exciting new chapter of their story.

 

16+

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