Mojave 3 Fifth Album...Mojave 3 Fifth Album...Mojave 3 Fifth Album...Mojave 3 Fifth Album...

"Puzzles Like You" 2006

Neil Halstead Talks New Mojave 3 Album As Matthew Solarski reports:
Now ten years old and wrapping up album number five, Britain's Mojave 3 have surpassed their parent band Slowdive in both longevity and output. In the process, they have quietly knitted a few threads of beauty into the grand musical tapestry with their consistently accomplished stratospheric folk-pop. Pitchfork spoke recently with Mojave 3 mastermind and erstwhile Slowdiver Neil Halstead about the new record, adventures in home studio recording, and the ethics of mice removal.

While you languish in front of this insufferable machine, Halstead is putting the finishing touches on Puzzles Like You, the follow-up to Mojave 3's 2003 album Spoon & Rafter, slated for March 7 release. Like Spoon, Puzzles will bear the esteemed insignia of veteran label 4AD in the UK and Beggars Banquet across the pond. It's the first Mojave 3 long-player recorded entirely in Halstead's own studio, located in Cornwall, England, and brace yourself: in the man's own words, it's "poppier".

"These songs are quite immediate," Halstead mused. "It was a fun process, doing things that are a bit faster. Hopefully it won't put off any Mojave fans."

Nonetheless, Halstead promised Puzzles won't be a huge departure from the sound Mojave 3 devotees have grown to love. While the complete tracklist has not yet been finalized, Halstead was happy to disclose the majority of Puzzles's pieces. They include "Truck-Driving Man", "Puzzles Like You", "Running With Your Eyes Closed", "Big Star Baby", "Breaking the Ice", "Most Days", "Ghostship Waiting", "You've Said It Before", "Star In Sky", and "The Mutineer".

Independent home recording proved a "learning experience" for Halstead and company. The band's recording efforts were thwarted at first, when a horde of mice infested the rural studio, scampering atop equipment and causing all sorts of mousy mischief. Locals suggested toxins, but Halstead and friends "struggled with the concept of poisoning a bunch of mice." Graciously, the critters moved on and the merciful Mojave were free to embrace the next challenge: mixing.

That "was a bit of a disaster," Halstead lamented, so at 4AD's suggestion, the band enlisted one Victor Van Vugt to mix Puzzles Like You. Triple V has produced records by Nick Cave, Beth Orton, and Luna, and mixed PJ Harvey's Mercury Prize-winning Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. With Van Vugt on the reels, things progressed swimmingly, and mixing wrapped up in late November. Only mastering remains, according to Halstead, putting Puzzles on track for the March 7 release. Those curious to sample the sound of Puzzles may coast on over to mojave3online.com, where Halstead has posted an unmixed version of "Big Star Baby". The breezy number features Halstead crooning choice lyrics like, "Everyone I've ever loved / Has been some kind of fuck-up." Totally heartfelt, we kid you not.

And since we had Neil Halstead on the phone, we had to ask: a Slowdive reunion? Unlikely, he said. While not against the idea, Halstead claimed he has a full platter of present interests and wonders if Slowdive are relevant enough to even warrant a reunion. Besides, "I think we sold our pedals, anyway." For shame!



Band Bio By AMG: Between the recording and release of Slowdive's ambient Pygmalion, Neil Halstead began writing more song-based tunes to occupy down time. Weeks after being dropped by Creation, Halstead and the remaining members of Slowdive (Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon) recorded six demos within three days, much of it live without overdubs. Their manager brought the tape to 4AD head Ivo Watts-Russell, who immediately gave the trio money to record more material. Feeling that the direction was too removed to retain the Slowdive moniker, they christened themselves Mojave, only to add "3" later for legal purposes. Signed to 4AD, the six demos and three later-recorded songs made up 1996's Ask Me Tomorrow. Subtle, sparse, and somber, the record drew likenesses to Mazzy Star and the Cowboy Junkies, along with some debatable country references. Not necessarily country, it sounded like unplugged Slowdive with a slight twang. The band gigged for several months, including a package 4AD tour in the U.S. with Scheer and Lush, dubbed the "Shaving the Pavement Tour."

The shift away from Slowdive was completed with 1998's Out of Tune. More upbeat in nature, it also featured more involved arrangements. Former Chapterhouse guitarist Simon Rowe was officially added as a member, as well as Alan Forrester on keys. Their full-time presence helped round out the band's sound. At this point, Mojave 3 -- and Halstead's classicist songwriting in particular -- began to earn favorable comparisons to Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, and Neil Young. Excuses for Travellers followed two years later, continuing in similar fashion as something of a hybrid of their first two LPs. Three years came and went -- and were broken up by a Halstead solo album -- before the release of Spoon and Rafter, an album that was recorded throughout the course of a year, at the band's studio in Cornwall...

My Space (listen & d l)

Official Page

4AD Page

Amazon.com