New Song. Mummy's A Tree / Object Constancy. Melle Kromhout

Once again two albums in one go. Both from The Netherlands. One a band effort and one an electronic adventure searching on and beyond what the limits of song are. Both albums that I had not expected to write about after the first acquaintance. Both made me change my mind after giving them a chance or two more.

New Song. Mummy's A Tree

Nothing in the band's name or the artwork of the album enticed me to start listening. The name too weird, the artwork too confrontational. A middle aged man, a bare, hairy torso that hasn't seen the sun for a while? It doesn't bode well for what's inside.

Luckily appearances can fool one and not responding to first inclinations assists in providing second chances. I'm glad I did, because New Song is an album worthwhile listening to. In fact it even inspired met to think, is this what The Doors might have sounded like in 2021, hadn't Jim Morrison died and this being the first Ray Manzarek-less album? Not all songs are applicable here but it crossed my mind a few times.

For New Song Mummy's A Tree travelled to Berlin to record  in the famous Hansa studio, once "standing by the wall", to record with producers Gordon Raphael and Daniel Benyamin. It's the band's sixth album since its 1996 debut. I managed to miss the previous five and listening to New Song that may just be my loss.

Stefan van den Berg, vocals/guitar, Rick Weren, bass and drummer Imre Elzer together made an alternative rock album, that in the one song turns left but in another takes the middle road. This results in a varied album with songs that deserve to be heard. The album also has a more theatrical side, where a song, 'Pipeline', sounds like an outtake from the 'Three Penny Opera', recorded in 2020. It manages to surprise, like most of the album does. The songs on a Mummy's A Tree album are not like a straight road leading from a to b. It's more like a small track in a big, dark forest, winding it's way following the springs, trees, ridges, etc., towards a point that you can only hope is the other side.

It is not just the The Beatles and an "all you need is love" reference that makes 'Leader In Town' an impressive song. The band expands its sound here without necessarily adding more instruments. The brakes go off. That is the main difference. Just like a band like Elbow can explode. This is just another side Mummy's A Tree offers on New Song. There's more than enough to experience but more importantly to enjoy.

Object Constancy. Melle Kromhout

From the outside an industrial noise is coming through my opened window, just after the final notes of Object Constancy have died out. Someone is cutting something electronically and I can almost imagine it being the wilder side of Object Constancy. It isn't, because the final notes have not died out it turns out. A very soft intro has started, 'Numerology', that simply is drowned out by the soft purring of my desktop and all the sounds drifting in from the outside, including that chainsaw. The soft synthdrones starting the song are a part of the story of this album. The loud percussion that joins it alter the mood of the album completely. The surprises on Object Constancy is half or the attraction, the experiment is one quarter, the hints at songs here and there is the final quarter. Together they make up the musical adventure Object Constancy is. Melle Kromhout manages to surprise his listeners several times, putting them on the wrong foot but also on their toes, making them pay attention, listening attentively for his next move.

I must be fair, that's why I write a blog about music. This is not an album that I'm going to play often. For that the experimental music is too far removed from what I like to hear regularly. Having that observation out of the way, it is easy to point to the interesting moves made on the album. For those remembering the Roger Moore - Tony Curtis vehicle 'The Persuaders', an alternative little brother of John Barry's theme song pops up out of the electronic drumming and rhythms of 'Detachable Electric System'. Out of nothing I see the two racing their expensive cars in the streets of Nice and Monte Carlo in my mind. The album continues with a musical variation on the sound of a helicopter. Why not? Melle Kromhout expands his mind and by doing that expands ours. I don't know whether .No has received a copy of this album, but this could well be Kairos material.

Object Constancy is not an album for a sunny afternoon but certainly one to listen to either on a rainy Sunday afternoon or an evening when your partner wants to see an episode of another fantasy series you do not particularly fancy. Your fantasy will be stretched as well.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Object Sonstancy here:

https://mellekromhout.bandcamp.com/album/object-constancy

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g