
MXMJoY ‘P.E.A.C.E’ Album released 22nd February via London Field Recordings
Birthed from the seminal 1980s post-punk band Maximum Joy, MXMJoY is the dramatic reimagining by founding members Janine Rainforth and Charlie Llewellin. Their brand new album, ‘P.E.A.C.E’ is due for a limited edition vinyl release in February 2019 via Janine’s own label, London Field Recordings. ‘Can Man Conquer it All’ is the first single to be taken from the album, it’s a slow-building ode to man set against a pastoral backdrop of aching chords and sighing rhythms.
A pivotal point in Bristol’s dub-informed lineage, Pitchfork compared Maximum Joys sound to “one of the Slits backed by the Gang of Four”, while PopMatters said, “Musically, the group’s use of complex percussion, horns, danceable bass lines, and overtly English female vocals built a bridge between the worlds of Afrobeat, reggae, avant-garde jazz, funk and pop”.
Returning with a new line-up and all new material, MXMJoY
She tells us “The last album that I worked on with Charlie in Maximum Joy was Station MXJY in 1982! The making of that was an experience in itself – it was made in the ‘traditional’ way if you like – for the most part of it we stayed at a recording studio and jammed and played until we got sounds and tracks we liked. For this new
The album was then written and recorded between Rainforth’s Hackney Studio and
The title track and entrancing ‘Daughters of Tomorrow’ open the album with fittingly trip-hop beats and gloriously catchy choruses while songs like ‘Can Man Conquer It All’ and ‘Ultraviolet’ dwell in darker spaces melodically, with dreamlike washes of keys and delicate guitars. Elsewhere album highlights ‘Archetype’ and ‘We Breathe’ boast some of the strongest songwriting of MXMJoYs career with unforgettable vocal performances and lush electric guitar tones
Rainforth continues; “As a collective band Maximum Joy and as individuals and now as MXMJoY – we have always shared the drive to evolve and keep looking for and finding new sounds & grooves that inspire, challenge, and maybe even soothe! The musical landscape today is exciting – there’s so much out there – I love all the sounds & textures & voices coming through, and Charlie shares that embracing
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