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Mull Historical Society

profiles

Colin MacIntyre *is* Mull Historical Society. He writes the songs, sings the vocals, plays the instruments and produces the records. He even designs the sleeves.

Marrying the experimental instincts and rich instrumentation of the Beta Band and Flaming Lips with the belting pop sensibility of The Beatles, Loss wasn't just one of those albums that attracted huge critical acclaim and then sold 200 copies. No, thanks to a further hat-trick of perfectly formed singles ('I Tried', 'Animal Cannabus' and the UK Top 40 hit 'Watching Xanadu') and a series of greatly received sold out gigs, the record-buying public took it to their hearts too (70,000 sales and rising in the UK).

In just a year, Colin, who hails from the Island of Mull (population: 2,000) off Scotland’s west coast, and his live band (which can vary from being a 5-piece to a 12 piece) went from supporting The Strokes on their toilet venue debut UK tour to selling-out the 2000 capacity Shepherds Bush Empire. The stage was set for album number two and, early last year Colin – a prolific tunesmith since his childhood - went back to the studio with countless songs to work on. Ninety-five recording days later he emerged with Us, an album laden with Colin's trademark tales, shimmering melodies and glorious 24 carat choruses you'll be humming for far longer than it takes to listen to them.

While instantly recognisable as a Mull record, the album marks an obvious progression for Colin. 'I think I've stripped things down,' he says. 'I've still tried to use different instruments and to really push myself, but it's more concise this time. When I was recording it, some of the songs had 90 separate tracks on them, but when I was mixing it I was much more brutal than with Loss. I took away so much stuff that I'd added. Y'know, sometimes you don't need keyboard zaps.' Instead the songs have been given room to stand up for themselves.

Us is also a more overtly personal record than Loss. 'On the first album I tried to relay a lot of my thoughts and emotions through characters,' admits Colin, 'but there's less of that on Us. It is a lot more about me.' That newfound openness burns bright on songs about avoiding emotional ruts (first single 'The Final Arrears'), learning to like yourself (the unfeasibly catchy 'Asylum') and not taking life too seriously (the power-poptastic 'Gravity').

But the sharp observational songs that led to comparisons between Loss and 'The League Of Gentlemen' are here too. Colin's ability to spin a ripping yarn is reaffirmed by tracks like the claustrophobic 'Minister For Genetics And Insurance M.P.', which shows the world closing in on a depressed Member of Parliament and 'The Supermarket Strikes Back', the sequel to 'Barcode Bypass' in which the evil supermarket owner, responsible for putting the local corner shop out of business, has to face his conscience.

Not surprisingly, Colin is incredibly pleased with the album. 'I loved recording it, although it was an incredible workload.' he says. 'I felt really confident with the songs I had to choose from. In fact, over the year in the studio there'd be times I was actually hurting mentally and physically because of how many songs I was trying to deal with(some 35 songs were completed). I’ve collated ideas in all kinds of ways over the past 18 months, hours of dictaphone tapes, pages of notebooks and countless calls to my own answer-phone leaving messages and melodies. But the 14 that became Us just rose to the top.' They certainly did.