A Billion Heartbeats Mystery Jets

• 1 Screwdriver 05:21
• 2 Petty Drone 04:45
• 3 History Has Its Eyes On You 03:54
• 4 A Billion Heartbeats 04:56
• 5 Endless City 03:56
• 6 Hospital Radio 06:03
• 7 Cenotaph 05:11
• 8 Campfire Song 04:27
• 9 Watching Yourself Slowly Disappear 04:58
• 10 Wrong Side Of The Tracks 04:37
• Total Runtime 48:08

Info for A Billion Heartbeats

Spannenden Alben liegt meist eine Perspektive zugrunde, die es so bisher nicht gab. Blaine Harrison von den Mystery Jets lebte als sogenannter »Property Guardian« direkt um die Ecke des Trafalgar Square, als er Zeuge eines vollen Jahres der Proteste wurde: Von Januar 2017 an marschierten die Menschen jedes Wochenende zu einem anderen Zweck:

»In the space of six months it was Black Lives Matter, the huge ›Our NHS‹ march, Unite for Europe«, erinnert er sich. Im Verlaufe eben dieses Jahres wurde das sechste Album der Mystery Jets, »A Billion Heartbeats«, geboren. »This album wasn't about making pointed opinions«, sagt Blaine. »It was about being a mirror for what's going on, reflecting back the way people are feeling.«

Die Single »Screwdriver« wirft einen kompromisslos kritischen Blick auf die im modernen Gewand auftretende Alt-Right-Bewegung in Großbritannien. Der Song baut dabei allerdings auf einer positiven Message auf: »Fight them with love / then the world will be ours«. Mal zärtlich, mal heftig hält »A Billion Heartbeats« die Balance zwischen Leidenschaft, Angst und Hoffnung. In gewisser Weise ist es nicht nur das »State of the Nation«-Album der Mystery Jets, sondern auch ein »State of a Generation«-Werk.

Blaine Harrison, Gesang, Keyboards, Gitarre
Kapil Trivedi, Schlagzeug
Henry Harrison, Keyboards, Gitarre
Jack Flanagan, Bass

Mystery Jets
The Syd Barrett-worshiping indie outfit Mystery Jets formed in the early '90s when the group's shock-headed frontman, Blaine Harrison, was only 12. The band was initially called the Misery Jets, in honor of the Heathrow-bound jets that habitually roared over their native Eel Pie Island, but they changed their name when Blaine (who, again, was very young at the time) misspelled "misery." The Mystery Jets were essentially a family project, with Blaine on drums; Blaine's dad, Henry Harrison, on bass; and Blaine's friend William Rees on guitar. Henry eventually switched from bass to guitar, Kai Fish joined up as the group's bassist, and Blaine switched from drums to keyboards. The group tried out a drum machine and a local kid named Max before finally latching onto drummer Kapil Trevedi. Five Tracks EP, recorded soon after Trevedi joined the group, was released on 679 Records in 2005, and their first full-length album, Making Dens, was released the following year. Zootime, a collection of Making Dens tracks plus remixes and songs from 2006 EPs such as You Can't Fool Me Dennis and Diamonds in the Dark, was released by Dim Mak in spring 2007. Released in 2008, Twenty One peaked at number 42 on the U.K. albums chart and boasted the single "Young Love," featuring indie folk queen Laura Marling. The band's third full-length, Serotonin, arrived in 2010. Following a secret show at the 2011 SXSW festival, the band set up a mobile studio and recorded the Texas-informed Radlands record, which was released in April of 2012. Shortly before the release of the album, Fish left Mystery Jets, replaced by Pete Cochrane for their upcoming U.K. tour. The fifth studio album Curve of the Earth was recorded over a three-year period beginning in 2013. The album was entirely self-produced in their homemade studio, marking a shift into progressive rock territory, with Harrison citing Pink Floyd and King Crimson as major influences.

This album contains no booklet.