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CD
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HVALUR 021CD
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Puzzle Muteson is the alter-ego of an enigmatic songwriter from the Isle of Wight, rendering his music in a tremulous tenor over a finely-spun web of finger-picked guitar. Born in London, the southern English island provided unexpected shelter for the shuddering transformation into one-man band, Puzzle Muteson. His grade-school music teacher was first to recognize his unrivalled vibrato, and a little while later, a parade of chance and coincidence led him to inhabit Puzzle Muteson, and start shaping a body of songs. Theatrics picks up where Puzzle Muteson's debut, En Garde (HVALUR 011CD/LP), left off; the 11 tracks telling an intriguing story with every minute that passes; his talent for heart-wrenching melodies and melancholic lyrics shining through like never before. Where En Garde introduced dream-like strings, Theatrics intertwines melody with mechanism; the album is as much a folk song fairytale as it is an exploration of electronic wonders. Some songs have just been born, some have slowly but surely reached their peak through years of delicate edits. And then there is the unique take on New Order's classic 1987 song "True Faith," where Puzzle Muteson breathes new life into this 1987 gem, undeniably making it his own with his trembling voice. Theatrics features many musicians at the height of their craft, including label-mates Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson, the latter of which co-produced the album with Bo Weaver.
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7"
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SELUR 001EP
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This is the first single from Puzzle Muteson's debut album En Garde (HVALUR 011CD/LP). The music was arranged and produced by Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson and recorded in the Greenhouse Studios in Iceland. The title track pits Puzzle's longing against waves of dense strings and jagged rhythm. With it comes the bonus track "Brittle Beak." En Garde takes an unexpected and unique voice and elevates it out of any easily discernible pocket.
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CD
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HVALUR 011CD
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Bedroom Community broadens the scope with En Garde by Puzzle Muteson, a mysterious, intimate record by a fearless songwriter and lyricist from the windswept Isle of Wight. Arranged and produced by collaborators and label mates Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson, En Garde is a strange, comforting and alarmingly personal record. Driven, spare lyrics are hoisted high by vocals of steady, sturdy tremble. Each tune swells with plush guitar pluck in a sea of orchestration and electronics. Recorded in the Greenhouse Studios in Iceland, the album collects Puzzle Muteson's odd and beautiful stories about love and horses, rust and polar bears, heartbreak and birds. Puzzle's songs are curious sounds from a troubled heart and his lyrics are urgent and open, striking a note with their vulnerable memories. "I Was Once A Horse" is an unforgettable song about nostalgia. The title track pits Puzzle's longing against waves of dense strings and jagged rhythm, while "Perspex Disguise" sets his naked, translucent vocals against shimmering piano that refracts off epic chords. In "Flamingo Head" he sings; "I left your house. You let me. I left you ugly," buffeted by guitar and distant murmurs. "Not a single thing could take this magical sight. I'll find you still," he sings on "Medusa," the story of a man tracking down a lost love. Like many Bedroom Community recordings, En Garde takes an unexpected and unique voice and elevates it out of any easily discernible pocket. Puzzle Muteson could be "folk" or something completely different -- instead he's an intense stranger from the Isle of Wight -- at once both familiar and unfamiliar. En Garde heralds a haunting and essential new voice, beautiful, earned and yearning.
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LP
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HVALUR 011LP
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LP version. Bedroom Community broadens the scope with En Garde by Puzzle Muteson, a mysterious, intimate record by a fearless songwriter and lyricist from the windswept Isle of Wight. Arranged and produced by collaborators and label mates Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson, En Garde is a strange, comforting and alarmingly personal record. Driven, spare lyrics are hoisted high by vocals of steady, sturdy tremble. Each tune swells with plush guitar pluck in a sea of orchestration and electronics. Recorded in the Greenhouse Studios in Iceland, the album collects Puzzle Muteson's odd and beautiful stories about love and horses, rust and polar bears, heartbreak and birds. Puzzle's songs are curious sounds from a troubled heart and his lyrics are urgent and open, striking a note with their vulnerable memories. "I Was Once A Horse" is an unforgettable song about nostalgia. The title track pits Puzzle's longing against waves of dense strings and jagged rhythm, while "Perspex Disguise" sets his naked, translucent vocals against shimmering piano that refracts off epic chords. In "Flamingo Head" he sings; "I left your house. You let me. I left you ugly," buffeted by guitar and distant murmurs. "Not a single thing could take this magical sight. I'll find you still," he sings on "Medusa," the story of a man tracking down a lost love. Like many Bedroom Community recordings, En Garde takes an unexpected and unique voice and elevates it out of any easily discernible pocket. Puzzle Muteson could be "folk" or something completely different -- instead he's an intense stranger from the Isle of Wight -- at once both familiar and unfamiliar. En Garde heralds a haunting and essential new voice, beautiful, earned and yearning.
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