Release Date: 06 October 2018
1.Persona non Grata/2. If Mississipi John Hurt Knew What I’ve Done/3. Bathed In Moonlight/4. PNG-Wounded By A Gunshot (Remix by The Prowler)
Label: A Man out Of A Man
With such a project name and such a title one can barely decide where to start talking about this debut EP. Do you remember Mani Deum? If not, then a quick read through this review will probably refresh your memory and a listen to the band’s latest EP, will help you place them in the dark folk rock music realm. A band is nothing if not the creative ‘sum’ of its parts. The fact that one of its two vocalists a.k.a Manos K. decided to release a solo EP, helps us get a bit closer to the collective psyche of Mani Deum and to the mysterious sonic universe of Manos K. If the band is a puzzle of 1000 pieces then the fact that a fraction of one of the pieces, is doing something solo, is always a nice excuse for us to examine it closer.
A sonic trip from Athens to Mississipi
Enough about that though, we love nothing more than a musician who is artistically restless and keeps experimenting and challenging his/her artistic comfort zone and our expectations. ‘Persona non Grata‘ an EP that unapologetically uses an expression tied with the refugee problem that Greece has been struggling with the last few years, is a trip from Belgium’s coldwave scene to the birthplace of blues, America’s Mississipi. With the help of its 4 tracks we traverse these regions. The reference points of these 4 tracks are both plenty and different in nature. There are strong Pink Floyd influences in the beautiful guitar solos, there are rhythms that could have been taken straight from Trisomie 21’s ‘cookbook’, there is a performing style that could also work well in a doom metal EP (i.e. ‘Bathed In Moonlight‘)and there are drum machines that ascribe post punk and pop elements to the mix.
‘Persona non Grata’ is a teaser release, preparing us for what will come next; another EP later in 2019 and a full length album in the near future.Its quite cheerful start and the unexpected pizzicato that we listen during the first song, might create an illusion of ‘lightness’ but have no doubt that the lyrics of all the songs, come from deep inside their main character’s psyche. I loved the theatricality of the vocals throughout this EP, which at times bring to mind Minny Pops and at other times reveal stronger influences from Nick Cave.
The reference to Mississipi John Hurt in the title of the second song is not a surprise if one knows a thing or two about the aesthetic and music preferences of Manos K. Mississipi John Hurt was a talented self taught musician who paired country and blues and played the guitar in his own unique way. Even though the song ‘If Mississipi John Hurt Knew What I’ve Done‘ is not a cover of a song by Mississipi John Hurt, he is ‘present’ in the lyrics, somehow playing the role of a ghostly figure that haunts the song’s main character. The addition of beautiful and discreet ethereal vocals,courtesy of the talented DUSK, also enhances this idea of a ghostly figure within the song’s plot. However, after listening to it more carefully, one might decide that this voice might also represent the singer’s unconscious…Her voice nicely complements Manos’ and adds to the narrative of the song.
The fact that this song is quite far from Mississipi John’s style,becomes more evident once we listen to the (Pink) Floyd inspired guitar riffs that make their appearance after 2 minutes, add melody and ‘break’ the wall of melancholy that the vocals are gradually building.
The same guitar riffs are also part of ‘Bathed In Moonlight’ ,a song which is both dreamy in its atmosphere and also shows more emotional vulnerability. The impact of these guitar riffs is quite significant in this case as well. You will probably notice that they are not always referencing Pink Floyd though, as in the very first song, those guitar riffs have a more typical rock sound.
The EP finishes in a way similar its beginning, thus closing the small circle that ‘Persona non Grata’ has designed. The last song ‘PNG-Wounded by a Gunshot‘, seems to have been remixed using Trisomie 21’s ‘cookbook’ and succeeded in making us dance. Hopefully it will have the same effect to you. Its video, created by Sigmataf takes inspiration from the aesthetics of Shinya Tsukamoto’s body horror films and specifically his film entitled ‘A Snake Of June’. A morbid subject runs throughout this EP and this film’s plot (a young lady is blackmailed into perverse sexual behavior against her husband’s will, until her husband finds that he enjoys the blackmail more than the blackmailer does) fits well with the overall mood of the song it accompanies and of the whole EP.
‘Persona non Grata’ an EP inspired by very real local problems
While I have been following the artistic output of many young musicians, students and artists in Greece, I must admit that very few of them address, issues that concern the Greek society as a whole, in a meaningful way.The decision to entitle this debut EP with a term used to describe the condition of a refugee, shows some rare social reflexes and a desire to address this very serious social and political problem. Whenever I visit Greece (often during the past few years) I intentionally visit about 20 artistic exhibitions and as many live gigs as possible and my overall impression is that young people choose to look for inspiration in the past or to some future that does not presuppose overcoming today’s hardships. While looking to the past is important and looking for inspiration in futuristic universes is also extremely important, addressing the pressing matters of ‘today’ is vital, yet very few artists do that.
This EP, whether intentionally or not, is very timely and down-to-earth in its subject matter. Its lyrics are proof of that, its aesthetics is further proof of that, the photos that accompany this album,created in the Athenian cityscape are a testament to that.
A few more details instead of a conclusion…
You must agree with me that the project’s name ‘The Man And His Failures’ combined with the photo of Manos on the cover,effortlessly lead the mind to assume that the artist refers to himself.However, in a recent interview that Manos provided for a greek magazine, he has clarified that ‘the man’ refers to mankind as a whole. This is a detail o fcourse but we think that it is important to consider it if you want to see the‘whole picture’ that this EP is trying to create. In addition, even though this is indeed a solo album, a result of a successful collaboration between different musicians, Mani Deum’s ‘spirit’ has also inflicted some magic in it. Panos Tsekouras who was responsible for the mixing and mastering of this EP is an important part of Mani Deum and Constantine Kyrtsis has joined Mani Deum on stage in the past, is a long term collaborator and friend of the band. DUSK as far as we are aware, has not participated in Mani Deum’s albums so far but who knows what the future holds? In other words, this EP is as much close to Mani Deum as it is far away from them. It deserves your attention and promises to make you wonder whether to listen to Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen or Bauhaus next.
You must agree with me that the project’s name ‘The Man And His Failures’ combined with the photo of Manos on the cover,effortlessly lead the mind to assume that the artist refers to himself.However, in a recent interview that Manos provided for a greek magazine, he has clarified that ‘the man’ refers to mankind as a whole. This is a detail o fcourse but we think that it is important to consider it if you want to see the‘whole picture’ that this EP is trying to create. In addition, even though this is indeed a solo album, a result of a successful collaboration between different musicians, Mani Deum’s ‘spirit’ has also inflicted some magic in it. Panos Tsekouras who was responsible for the mixing and mastering of this EP is an important part of Mani Deum and Constantine Kyrtsis has joined Mani Deum on stage in the past, is a long term collaborator and friend of the band. DUSK as far as we are aware, has not participated in Mani Deum’s albums so far but who knows what the future holds? In other words, this EP is as much close to Mani Deum as it is far away from them. It deserves your attention and promises to make you wonder whether to listen to Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen or Bauhaus next.
The EP is available in cassette and digital formats and you can buy it from here.
Blaue Rosen 