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| OVERVIEW Mr. North 'Fear & Desire'. New album from the cool Irish rock band! 13 songs, new 2007 release, info at www.mrnorthmusic.com. UPC 677516109925.<BR><BR>Their bio reads 'While their last album, Lifesize, was produced and mixed by the power combo of Jerry Harrison (No Doubt, O.A.R., Live, Talking Heads) and Tom Lord-Alge (well, everything you have heard on the radio in the last 15 years), the band themselves took the reins in the studio this time. Working with friend and dedicated muse Steve Lyon (Depeche Mode), the band recorded at James Ihas Stratosphere Sound and dug into the independent feeling of that studio to create a very raw, edgy and beautiful sound for their EP and sophomore album effort.<BR><BR>Fear & Desire allows the listener to feel an enormous lift with each song from start to finish, just as it is delivered by MRNORTH in their live performance. The music exhibits an incredible unity and tightness among its four members, and Smith delivers the songs with one of the most powerful and original voices in music today; often compared to Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke and Freddie Mercury. Audiences are constantly blown away by the charismatic singer's vocals combined with his energetic performances.<BR><BR>The Irish quartet is now based in New York City and it shows. The album displays every aspect of emotion on the spectrum: the album swaggers from the insecurity of The Player, to the self-induced penance of the power house For The Cheater and The Cheated, to the wrenching So Long Love and the philosophic closer Rope. The city they now choose to call home permeates throughout both records.<BR><BR>After the release of Lifesize, MRNORTH toured ceaselessly for a year and a half. The band did the club scene and supported a wide array of artists including Sheryl Crow, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Fuel, Live, Van Halen, Bryan Adams and the Who. The band ended 2005 on tour with O.A.R., whose album, Song For The Stranger, features backing vocals by Colin Smith on several tracks. The tour ended with Smith singing on stage with O.A.R. at their sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.<BR><BR>When the four members of MRNORTH entered the studio in February of 2006 to start recording, they decided to compose along a common theme -- the darker side of love and commitment, which was something the lyric writers in the band had all too much experience with. The aspects of fear and desire in relationships are the focus of the songs on the new album, so its title was an obvious choice. The idea of a themed record is a first for MRNORTH. Another first was the use of classical instruments: the band enlisted the help of the Greenwich Village Orchestra to add the depth and drama that the songs subject matter purveys. The result is a beautiful and rich soundscape of rock band with concert orchestra. A song like For the Moment was a perfect candidate for an orchestral arrangement, says guitarist Emmett OMalley. The poignancy of the lyrics and the way the chords move throughout the song simply had to be embellished with the lushness of string and brass instruments. <BR><BR>Now the band is excited about taking their new music on the road very soon. Fear & Desire, they feel, will speak to people on a gut level. The record has both elements of mosh pit excitement and moody reflection, OMalley explains. People are going to come away from the live show with something they havent quite heard us do before. 1995 - Release of 'Sugar Knife' single 2007 - Release of 'Fear & Desire' album |
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