The second album from San Jose sextet, The Mumlers, has arrived and we here at Breakthru Radio think it is a true piece of art. The album, entitled Don’t Throw Me Away, is the follow up to Thickets and Stitches, their debut release on Galaxia, a label that has given us albums by the likes of The Black Heart Procession, Her Space Holiday and Peggy Honeywell.
The project is the brainchild of Will Sprott, San Jose native, instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is accompanied by six other talented characters including Mercedes El Vencere, Andy Paul, James Fenwicke, Müller, Felix Archuleta, Paolo Gomez. The players are both on the recordings and share the stage with Sprott. The group makes use of vintage instruments, most of them collected from the San Jose Unified School district (grabbed up when the school was trying to give them away). The instrumentation includes a french horn, stand-up bass, guitar, clarinet, organs and more.
Sprott’s vocals stylings don’t reflect that of a man in his late twenties. His voice is filled with beauty, sounding a bit weathered and smoked. His lyrics tell stories of life experiences and hardships filled with truth and emotion. Technically, Sprott and the band are all over the place. The tracks reference different eras and genres while seamlessly sewing them together, without the listener even noticing. His ability to travel from soul to folk then back to blues, swing, rock and jazz is amazing. There are many experiences to be had by the listener during Don’t Throw Me Away’s 42 minutes and 11 songs. Several times during the album you are transported to a different place and time. It is with these beautiful variations that sets the band apart.
The outfit is known for their live shows, something that is extremely important in this age of technology and recording advancements. Almost anyone can sound amazing on a recording, but not until they prove themselves live, do they deserve any sort of recognition. The Mumlers will be touring this fall in support of Don’t Throw Me Away. They will have their record release party in San Jose on September 11 at The Bank Club. See them live:
Sep 7 2009 at KFJC 89.7 fm – Los Altos Hills, CA
Sep 8 2009 at Streetlight Records/ALL AGES – San Jose, CA
Sep 11 2009 at The Blank Club/RECORD RELEASE SHOW!! – San Jose, CA
Sep 18 2009 at The Crepe Place – Santa Cruz, CA
Sep 26 2009 at Henry Miller Library – Big Sur, CA
Oct 7 2000 at Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA
Oct 8 2009 at Sophia’s/ALL AGES – Davis, CA
Oct 17 2009 at The Casbah/with the Black Heart Procession!! – San Diego, CA
Link to this article:
http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?b=artist.php?id=243
– Lottie Leymarie
BreakThru Radio Blog 