Mordecai Smyth has been mining a critically acclaimed path of pop-psych and prog rock for the past decade with independent record label Mega Dodo. His third album, “Things are Getting Stranger on the Shore” features Jon Camp formerly of Renaissance, and frequent collaborators, Icarus Peel and Crystal Jacqueline. Jason Barnard asks Mordecai five key questions.
How does “Things are Getting Stranger on the Shore” compare with your previous LPs?
I think this album is a natural progression (no pun intended) from The Mayor of Toytown is Dead [second album from 2017]. The writing partnerships I have with various people (some whom also made contributions to the previous album) have developed further. We still skirt around and between genres which I like. I wouldn’t say this is a progressive rock or psychedelic album per se, but it certainly displays large elements of both. I suppose I like the mix of both.
I think it is safe to say that my first album for Mega Dodo Records can be put into the “Pop-sike” genre. A long time ago, I was in a band with Terry Bickers called Cradle and I think the album we released was loosely labelled “Pastoral Psych” which actually wasn’t a bad description.
Can you tell me about who collaborated with you on this album and how you choose which track would be a good fit for them?
All the people that play on the album are friends who form part of my “musical support network”. Icarus Peel and Crystal Jacqueline are close friends who have been very supportive over the years. Your readers may know them by their various projects on Mega Dodo and Fruits de Mer. Believe it or not, as well as being a fabulous guitarist, Icarus was firstly a bass guitarist. He still enjoys playing bass and my songs provide an outlet for him to do that. Also, give Icarus Peel a psychedelic piece of music and he comes up with some beautiful lyrics: that was how “Mercy” happened. I asked him to do the lead vocal on that track, seeing he wrote the words and I added a backing vocal.
“That Late Autumn Sun” was written by me with Crystal Jacqueline in mind. It is a song about environmental issues and a need for us to change. Crystal Jacqueline runs her own small holding in Devon, growing organic fruit and veg as well as running the environmental group “One World Voice”: her performance on that song is breathtaking and sung with such passion: a perfect match in my opinion.
Crystal Jacqueline, Mordecai Smyth and Icarus Peel
As for Jon Camp, people obviously know him through his incredible work with Renaissance and more recently Band of Rain. He actually recorded his bass parts for this album before Band of Rain recorded their album “Petrichor”!!!I suppose that demonstrates how slowly the grinding wheel turns in the court of Mordecai Smyth! Jon was a natural choice for bass on “That Late Autumn Sun” and “Out of Thin Air” : the first is a long song with a complex arrangement that needed the kind of playing Jon is famous for and the second is a delicate song with a remarkable female singer, who is my friend Deborah Pike. Deborah wrote the lyrics to it. I think it has a kind of Renaissance feel in a way, even though Jon played fretless bass on it and not the thunderous Rickenbacker!
The two collaborators who are there at the beginning of most the pieces are my wife, Tabitha and my friend from our teenage years, Darren Medland. “In Your Dark Space” and “High Once More” started out as a jam between the three of us. Darren wrote the music to “Fear of Flying” and “The Upholsterer’s Wife”, so I chipped in with lyrics and some mellotron and electric guitar. I also wrote the music for “That Late Autumn Sun” with Darren, both of us coming up with the many sections that make up that piece.
When did you pick up your first instrument?
I was the percussionist in my junior school orchestra, so a long time!
What artists do you admire and why?
Musical artists…..? Why do I admire them…..? Peter Hammill for being uncompromising, Peter Gabriel for leaving Genesis at the top of their game, Kate Bush for managing to stay out of the limelight, Robert Fripp for his musical “ discipline”, Siouxsie Sioux for not taking any shit in a male dominated world, I suppose artists who do their best to follow their own vision / path despite all the compromises a savage industry will try to force on them. Obviously, I admire them all for their music!
What are your future plans?
I would like to record an EP of acoustic guitar based songs I have been working on. I’d also like to continue writing “noisier” songs with my current collaborators and hopefully some new ones too!
Further information
“Things Are Getting Stranger On The Shore” will be available as a limited edition vinyl LP (250 copies), CD (250 copies) and download. The first 50 LPs and 50 CDs come with a bonus CD of cover songs many of which were previously released as downloads. All have been remixed and/or added to for release on this bonus disc. Shipping out on or around May 24, 2022: megadodo.bandcamp.com/album/things-are-getting-stranger-on-the-shore
