MONO to release new live album »Beyond The Past • Live in London with The Platinum Anniversary Orchestra«

Japanese four-piece instrumental rock band MONO unveil »Meet Us Where The Night Ends« taken from their new live album, »Beyond The Past • Live in London with The Platinum Anniversary Orchestra«, out on March 19th, 2021 via Pelagic Records (Europe) and Temporary Residence Ltd. (North America). The album will be available on 3xLP and 2xCD with 40-page photo book, and in digital format.

Tracklisting:
01. God Bless
02. After You Comes The Flood
03. Breathe
04. Nowhere, Now Here
05. Death In Rebirth
06. Dream Odyssey
07. Sorrow
08. Meet Us Where The Night Ends
09. Halcyon (Beautiful Days)
10. Ashes In The Snow
11. Exit In Darkness
12. Com(?)

From Pelagic Records:

For two decades, MONO have defined and re-fined a kind of orchestral rock that is as emotional as it is experimental. Their 10 studio al- bums over those 20 years have established MONO as what Pitchfork described as “one of the most distinctive bands of the 21st Century.” Meanwhile, their live concerts are typically more subdued in instrumentation – and more supercharged in volume and voltage. Rarely is there the opportunity to combine those two experiences. In their 20-year history as a band, MONO have presented no more than a half-dozen live concerts featuring the support of an orchestra. Such events are not only un- usual – they are also unforgettable.

»Beyond the Past • Live in London with The Platinum Anniversary Orchestra« documents MONO’s extraordinary performance from the Beyond The Past event that celebrated the band’s 20th anniversary, which took place at the historic Barbican Centre in London, England on December 14, 2019. For that once-in-a-life-time event, MONO selected a memorable lineup of old and new friends, including fellow Japanese underground icons, Boris and Envy, as well as French post-metal legends, Alcest, and UK collaborators A.A. Williams and Jo Quail. The event culminated with MONO performing with The Platinum Anniversary Orchestra, featuring National Youth String Orchestra to a rapt, sold-out audience of 2,000.

Playing through a two-hour set that touches on the band’s entire history, the sheer euphoria and dynamic resonance that engulfed the massive crowd was captured in brilliant detail by MONO’s live sound engineer, Matt Cook. Meticulously mastered by Bob Weston and presented here in its entire two-hour glory, Beyond the Past is one of the most essential MONO recordings. Packaged in a triple gatefold with accompanying 40-page photo book, this is the rare document of an event that is an event in and of itself.

Tokyo, Japan based instrumental rock band MONO was originally formed in 1999. Their unique approach of combining moving orchestral arrangements and shoegaze guitar noise is held in extremely high regard; so much so, that the band’s musicianship and the diverse musical palette has eclipsed the Rock genre and exists within its own realm. As British Musical Magazine NME once stated, “this is music for the Gods”. A particularly monumental live memory of the band was a special set of shows with a 23-piece orchestra in New York, Tokyo, London and Melbourne.

Their annual world tour consists of around 150 shows. The band has now visited over 59 countries (and counting) and proudly holds the title of being one of the most internationally successful bands in Japan. Both critics and fans of Rock music agree that MONO are one of the best live bands in existence.

After releasing 10 successful albums including a live album with an orchestra in New York, the band received the highly regarded award “The Marshall Hawkins Awards: Best Musical Score – Featurette” from the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema for their collaborative short film »Where We Begin« in 2015. The band was also nominated for “Ariel Award for Best Original Music Score” for the feature film »The 4th Company« which was released in 2016.

In 2018, the band welcomed a new drummer Dahm and began a new journey. This year, the band received a special invitation to be one of the headliners of London’s Meltdown Festival, personally requested by the 2018’s curator Robert Smith of The Cure, where the stage was shared with artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Mogwai and Deftones.

The band’s 20 year anniversary was welcomed in the following year. To commemorate this occasion, the 10th album »Nowhere Now Here« was released together with a world tour. The tour was over a year long, consisting of 4 special orchestra shows in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and London, and marked its successful end in March 2020.

Now, the band prepares for the new album, together once again with their longtime friend Steve Albini of Electrical Audio, which is planned to be released in 2021.

MONO is:
Takaakira ‘Taka’ Goto – Guitar
Tamaki – Bass, Piano
Yoda – Guitar
Dahm – Drums

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well