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Mojave 3

profiles

Mojave 3 are vocalist/guitarist Neil Halstead, bassist/vocalist Rachel Goswell, guitarist Simon Rowe, keyboard player Alan Forrester and drummer Ian McCutcheon.

The band broke cover in 1995, when a six-track demo impressed 4AD sufficiently to offer them a deal, despite a then-prevailing musical climate of bumptious Britpop that seemed totally at odds with what Mojave 3 were doing. Reasonably, however, it was felt that not sounding enough like Shed Seven was no reason to turn them away. Nor was it considered a problem that Halstead, Goswell and McCutcheon had form as members of definitive Thames Valley shoegazers Slowdive (Rowe had previously served with dreampop kindred spirits Chapterhouse).

Mojave 3's debut, Ask Me Tomorrow, was a refreshingly stripped down collection that changed little from the original demos. Halstead's melodic, folk- and country-tinged songs stood alone in a sea of Britpop anthems, drawing favourable (if lazy) comparisons to Nick Drake, Cowboy Junkies and Bob Dylan.

"We get tagged as a country band," mused Neil, "and I can understand why, but we never started out attempting to be a country band. We just wanted to write simple songs. And anyway, there is a continuity there. Slowdive were never about anything complicated, either. They were all simple songs as well, just played loudly. There is a level at which Mojave 3 are the same simple sort of ideas played quietly. Slowdive were just more focused on sound, while Mojave 3 are focused as much as possible on the songs."

Three years later, Out Of Tune continued where Ask Me Tomorrow left off. From the warm bar-room boogie of "Some Kinda Angel" to the stark simplicity of "Yer Feet", the album showed a group that had grown in both confidence and cohesiveness. Much of it was written in Cornwall, Neil having relocated to Newquay for the surfing and peace of mind. The others still live in London, where the recording took place, aided by friend and fellow musician Mark Van Hoen (aka Locust).

Third album Excuses For Travellers contained some of the most ambitious Halstead compositions yet, ranging from the unabashed pop of "Any Day Will Be Fine" to lachrymose epic "In Love With A View". The former added the name Brian Wilson to those routinely dropped in Mojave 3 reviews; the latter was infused with the rueful wisdom that characterises the best work of Paul Simon and or Jimmy Webb. Mojave 3's other core members contributed to the songwriting for the first time, Goswell providing the languid "Bringin' Me Home" and McCutcheon the gorgeously baleful, gospel-tinted closer "Got My Sunshine".

In 2002, Neil issued his solo debut, Sleeping On Roads, and embarked on a year-long world tour, visiting America an impressive three times. Every Mojave 3 album has sold more than its predecessor, and Sleeping On Roads continued this upward curve.

The band's fourth long-player, Spoon And Rafter, arrived in September 2003. It wasn't a straightforward record to make - solo commitments, busy schedules and the need for people to shuttle between London and Mojave 3's recently built studio in Cornwall meant that work happened in fits and starts. Songs were recorded, left, revisited, reworked - often dramatically - and, in some cases, discarded altogether. But although it took over a year to finish, it also opened up a new, more reflective way for the band to work.

"It was certainly more fun than going into a studio in London every day for two weeks," enthused Neil, "and what's weird is that, as soon as we started to compile the record, we noticed that it still had a cohesive feel to it. And almost every song - completely unintentionally - says something about broken hearts."

As well as revealing a new level of complexity to the group's arrangements, it was also their most varied set to date: contrast the nine-minute sprawl of opener "Bluebird Of Happiness" with uptempo pair "Starlite #1" and "Billoddity", which layer acoustic guitars, pedal steel and analogue synths to warmly affirmative effect. Other highlights included the wistfully jaunty "Tinker's Blues" and the country-tinged closer "Between The Bars".

The following year saw the release of Rachel's solo album, Waves Are Universal, which she'd spent the first half of 2003 recording. Mojave 3 will reconvene in 2005 for 4AD's 25th anniversary celebrations 1980 forward. Their fifth album is set for release in early 2006.


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