Irish five-piece Just Mustard have confirmed details of their highly-anticipated second album, Heart Under, out on 27th May via Partisan Records; the band’s first for the label. To coincide, they’ve also shared the album’s lead single ‘Still’ with a transfixing new video, directed by Balan Evans.
Known for straddling the middle ground between shoegaze and noise rock, the intensity of the band’s dynamics have been pushed even further with ‘Still’. The song plays around with traditional structures and frameworks, with guitarists David Noonan and Mete Kalyoncuoglu providing a multi-faceted sonic palette. Vocalist Katie Ball elaborates on the song’s evolution: “‘Still’ is one of the earliest songs we worked on for the album and has gone through several formations. We wanted to write a song that people can dance to. Instrumentally and lyrically it surrenders itself to other emotions expressed on the album, playing with repetition, tension and release.”
The video is a visually beautiful representation of these emotions, with Ball seen singing in the reflection of another’s eye; the pupil providing the backdrop for the visuals. Watch the stunning video below:
Primarily recorded at Attica Studios in Donegal, Heart Under was produced by the band and mixed by David Wrench, who has previously worked with Frank Ocean, Jamie xx and FKA twigs. During the recording process, the band discussed the idea of wanting the listener to feel like they’re on a train going through a tunnel; this helped create a claustrophobic element to the record. “This album felt very blue to us,” Ball explains. “There was sadness and sorrow in the album, and it felt like being underwater and under something very heavy. We let that influence the music, but it wasn’t a decision – it just naturally happened that way.”
Just Mustard will tour throughout the year, including the band’s first shows in New York City, a series of shows at SXSW and supporting new labelmates Fontaines D.C on their upcoming European and North American dates. After that, they will head out for headline dates all over the UK and Europe in autumn.
Headline dates are:
Sep 11 – Ramsgate Music Hall
Sep 13 – London Village Underground
Sep 14 – Bristol, The Exchange
Sep 15 – Brighton, Patterns
Sep 16 – Southampton, The Loft
Sep 17 – Norwich, Voodoo Daddys
Sep 20 – Liverpool, Jimmy’s
Sep 21 – Nottingham, The Bodega Social Club
Sep 22 – Manchester, Band on the Wall
Sep 23 – Glasgow, Broadcast
Sep 25 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Photo: Milly Cope