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MESH
A Perfect Solution
Release 23.10.2009
Nach drei Jahren Abstinenz kehrt Bristols heißester Exportartikel in
Sachen elektronischer Herzschmerz-Injektion aus dem Untergrund zurück.
MESH, das Duo bestehend aus Mark Hockings und Rich Silverthorn haben glücklicherweise
nicht nur nichts verlernt, „A Perfect Solution“ ist möglicherweise
sogar ihr reifster, variabelster und gleichzeitig rauester Longplayer in der
bisherigen Bandkarriere. Dass Mark Hockings ein absoluter Ausnahmesänger
ist, hört eigentlich jeder, aber wie sehr MESH in Sachen Songwriting
und
Arrangement in den letzten Jahren zugelegt hat, dass realisiert man erst,
wenn man das Album komplett durchgehört hat. Fingen MESH als komplett
elektronischer & zeitweise steriler Synthiepop an, so ist das Duo jetzt
auch im Studio zu einer kompletten Band mutiert und diese neu gewonnene Vielschichtigkeit
im Arrangement tut den 11 Songs extrem gut und macht aus einer bereits guten
Band nun eine hervorragende. Auch thematisch zeigt sich „A Perfect Solution“
noch ein kleines Stückchen düsterer als vorherige Alben. „If
We Stay Here“ stimmt gleich darauf ein, worum es in „A Perfect
Solution“ geht, nämlich um kaputte Beziehungen von Leuten, die
sich irgendwann einmal innig geliebt haben, nun aber nur noch räumlich
miteinander verbunden sind. Die massive Häuserfront, die das Cover ziert
ist also das treffende Setting für die schmerzhaften Dramen die sich
hinter den Fensterscheiben abspielen, und deren Ende noch nicht abzusehen
ist. Die Kabel die sich überall im Artwork wiederspiegeln sind sowohl
Rettungsseil als auch Fußfessel für die Akteure. Alles andere als
„A Perfect Solution“ Wäre „A Perfect Solution“
musikalisch so trist und hoffnungslos wie seine Themen, die es behandelt wäre
das Album sicherlich extrem sperrig, aber glücklicherweise halten MESH
die Balance zwischen „Süss“ und „Bitter“ in einer
ebenso delikaten Waage. Als Leckerbissen für die Fans, die drei Jahre
auf ein neues Mesh Album warten mussten, wird „A Perfect Solution“
neben der normalen Jewel-Case Variante (mind 140) auch als streng limitiertes
Box-Set ercheinen (mind 141). Diese Box wird neben dem Album eine Vinyl 7“,
ein Bandposter und ein grossformatiges, 48-seitiges Booklet enthalten.
Tracklist
1. If We Stay Here
2. Only Better
3. Everything I Made
4. Is It So Hard
5. Hold It Together
6. It’s Gone
7. How Long
8. Who Says
9. Hope. Dreams
10. Want You
11. The Bitter End
MESH
A Perfect Solution
Release 23.10.2009
After a three year absence, Bristol’s hottest underground export in
heartwrenching electronic pop is back. MESH, the duo of Mark Hockings and
Rich Silverthorn, return with „A Perfect Solution“, possibly the
most mature, mutable and yet toughest album of their career. While no one
doubts Mark Hocking’s status as an exceptional vocalist, a complete
listen to this album also serves to highlight the band’s songwriting
and arrangement skills. Once pegged as a purely retro synth act, MESH have
mutated into a true live band, and the resulting versatility in the arrangements
transforms what might have merely been 11 good songs into outstanding ones.
Thematically, „A Perfect Solution“ is a bit darker than previous
releases. The tone of the album is typified by „If We Stay Here“,
a tale of broken relationships between people who once loved each other but
who now just exist in the same space. The massive housing facade pictured
on the cover further symbolizes the painful dramas which take place behind
its windows. The wires running throughout the artwork are both safety lines
and shackles – anything but „A Perfect Solution“. Were the
album musically as dismal and hopeless as it is lyrically, „A Perfect
Solution“ might be too much to handle, but luckily MESH know how to
strike the delicate balance between „bitter“ and „sweet“.
Alongside the regular jewelcase CD edition (mind 140) the album will also
be available as strictly limited collectors box set incl. the album, 7“-single,
poster and a special size 48-page booklet (mind 141).
Tracklist
1. If We Stay Here
2. Only Better
3. Everything I Made
4. Is It So Hard
5. Hold It Together
6. It’s Gone
7. How Long
8. Who Says
9. Hope. Dreams
10. Want You
11. The Bitter End
MESH
A Perfect Solution Tour
Special Guests in 2009: Informatik
12.11.2009 GER Hamburg Markthalle
13.11.2009 DK Albertslund/Kopenhagen Forbraendingen
14.11.2009 GER Rostock Mau Club
15.11.2009 GER Braunschweig Meier Music Hall
17.11.2009 GER Leipzig Werk II
18.11.2009 A Vienna WUK
19.11.2009 GER Munich Backstage
20.11.2009 CH Pratteln Z7
21.11.2009 GER Erfurt HSD Gewerkschaftshaus
22.11.2009 GER Frankfurt Batschkapp
23.11.2009 GER Berlin Columbia Club
24.11.2009 GER Dortmund FZW
26.11.2009 GER Cologne Live Music Hall
27.11.2009 B Antwerp Hofter Lo
28.11.2009 UK London O2 Islington Academy
29.11.2009 UK Wolverhampton/Birmingham Robin 2
05.02.2010 ES Madrid Caracol
06.02.2010 ES Barcelona Sala Bikini
20.02.2010 RU Moscow Tochka
More dates will be announced in 2010
Ticket presale: www.poponaut.de
http://www.myspace.com/mesh_a_perfect_solution
http://www.mesh.co.uk/
http://www.dependent.de
Mesh History
1991 - 1993: The early years
Mesh were founded in 1991. Rich used to be in a band with Neil. It was then
that they met Mark on a concert. Mark was also a keyboardist but in a different
band. During conversations, which were mainly about music, they got along
together right away. Later, they decided to try a few new ideas in the studio
because it was obvious for them that the bands they were in didn’t have
a long life expectancy. The first song they recorded together was "Waste
Of Time". Mark had never sung in a band before. But as he was the only
one who was willing to sing, he took over the part of the vocalist. Moreover,
Mark believed that only a writer, who sings his songs himself, can put the
right feeling into the piece. Rich and Mark normally write the rough structure
of the tune. Mark then adds the lyrics to it that develop during their sessions
in the studio. Neil doesn’t get his creative inspiration until he is
either in the studio or when he indulges in his hobby, photography. Over the
course of time, quite a collection of equipment had been accumulated in the
house of Rich’s mother. This provided the basis for their recording
studio (only a small room at the beginning). With huge racks full of studio
electronics and three sweating bodies, it was soon far too small. The singing
was originally recorded in the attic, but finally, they moved to an extension,
with an integrated room for recordings of vocals. There was not only enough
room for their complete equipment setup, but also for a sofa, TV, VCR and
a Nintendo to have a bit of diversion. These luxuries were used often while
spending long evenings and weekends recording in the studio. In the meantime,
their demo tapes were already popular enough to allow them to play early small
concerts. Mesh’s first performance was in the Mauretania in Bristol,
then in the Flag Club in London at a later date. The band tried hard to get
a record contract with a label at that time, but met with limited success.
Although they attracted lots of attention, nobody wanted to sign them. But
the band carried on playing concerts, recording chart compatible material
to impress the record labels, only to set up meetings and then get rejected
again. During that frustrating time, the band had released three tracks on
a CD for "Future Music", a leading music magazine. "Headstone",
"Hurt" and "Crisis" were very well received by magazine’s
readers. After that, the popularity of the band rose so much that a mailing
list was created. That list strengthened the band’s faith that there
was a market for their music. And as nobody wanted to sign them, there was
only one way...
1994 - 1996: From Tolerance
Records to Memento Materia
Tolerance Records was founded and the band began to write new songs and to
record the sound for their first Mini-CD. To start their own record label
involved more work than they had imagined. Neil started to design the complete
artwork and merchandising material for the band and label. With persistence
and insistence, they eventually finished their project. In August 1994, their
first CD "Fragile" was released. A number of live performances followed,
starting in the Bristol Watershed. This venue was considerably larger than
the Mauretania which the band had outgrown (many disappointed fans only could
view the shows from outside the club). The successful concerts were another
confirmation that their music was appreciated by the audience. Further performances
in London followed. The CD "Fragile" was distributed by Mesh, family
members and other volunteers in Bristol, London and Reading directly to the
record shops. They reached their highest turnover, however, through mail-order
or by sales at concerts. The album sold so well that Mesh almost started to
produce a new album on the spot. In the meantime, the demand was so considerable
that in November 1994 they founded the "Mesh Information Service"
that supplied the fans with newsletters, information and merchandising from
that point of time. It was obvious for Mesh that there was a market for them
in Great Britain and an even bigger one in the rest of Europe. The band was
finally appearing in a lot of European scene magazines. To tour on the continent
was another chance to increase their popularity. Therefore, they now sent
demo tapes of their CD "Fragile" to concert promoters and labels
in Europe. One of those demo tapes ended up in the hands of Memento Materia,
a Swedish label specializing in electronic music. The label was quite impressed
by the demo and asked them without further ado to send the complete album.
The upshot of all this was a signed recordcontract
at Memento Materia in autumn 1995 when the second album was almost completed.
"Fragile" was, at that time, almost sold out at Tolerance Records.
Therefore, Memento Materia re-issued it including a booklet of eight pages
with the complete lyrics which was not included in the original version of
Tolerance Records. Mesh also contributed to some compilations, e.g. "Monument"
("Hurt"), "Electromagnetic" ("Last Breath Of You",
"I Don't Expect To Be Right"), "Electronic Fields" ("I
Don't Think They Know"), "Strangelove", "Strangelove 2",
"Zillo Club Hits", etc.
1996 - 1998: In This Place Forever
"In This Place Forever", the first full-length album, was
eventually released in June 1996 by Synthetic Product Records, 17 months after
they had started working on it. The waiting was worth while, however: what
follows is an excerpt of a CD review by Eclipse: "They have got great
melodies, sing along choruses and a very distinctive singer with recognition
value. The three Britons own what many other lack: originality and their own
style." Mesh’s first single being released was "You Didn’t
Want Me" from "In This Place Forever", a club-hit that still
fills the dance floors in discotheques. Mesh embarked on a number of concerts
throughout Europe. Their first German concert was in the "Vier Linden"
in Hildesheim on 10th January 1997. After this, Mesh returned to Germany for
two tours. The first one was with "Beborn Beton" in October 1997
as part of the Electrofusion-tour. Among the enthusiastic audience were the
members of "De/Vision" amongst others. Without hesitation, Mesh
were hired as support for a tour in May 1998. At the same time, in April 1998,
the "Best Of"-album "Fragmente" and the second single
"Trust You", which became another club-hit, were released. The beat
of this song, a catchy melody and the charismatic voice of Mark Hockings,
became the trademark of the band. For all those who hadn’t known Mesh
before, "Fragmente" offered a compilation of the highlights showcasing
the varied musical production of Neil Taylor, Richard Silverthorn and Mark
Hockings. The band presented their "pop side" without exception.
It not only contained massive up-tempo pieces, but also slower tracks like
e.g. "So Important" or electronic/melodic songs featuring complex
rhythm changes like "Someone To Believe In".
1999: The Point At Which It Falls Apart
After a short break from touring but hard work in the studio, the album "The
Point At Which It Falls Apart" and the advance single "People Like
Me (With This Gun)" were released in February 1999. With this album,
the boys from Bristol departed from the hard side of the electro pop and continued
the melodic and harmonic structure they begun with "Fragmente".
The lyrics clearly showed one of the most important sides of Mesh: the well-thought
out, self-critical and questioning demeanour. The album was in the Top Ten
of the German Alternative Charts for several weeks. The single "People
Like Me (With This Gun)" even climbed to number 3. Due to their increasing
popularity, it was quite easy for the Meshies to organize their first complete
tour in April. Along with Melotron as support, fans could see them live in
ten discotheques and venues across Germany. It seemed that Mesh finally hit
the big time. The second single "It Scares Me" came out right after
the tour, in May 1999. On the one hand, Mesh were now being played more often
in the discotheques and on the other hand, a semi-professional video clip
of "It Scares Me" was shown on free German television. Mesh had
their first festival performance at the Zillo-Festival in 1999. The band was
praised frenetically by 7,000 enthusiastic fans in a location that was obviously
too small given their new popularity. It was also the first time, they played
the song "Safe With Me" live and it had everybody singing along.
Mesh played a further concert at a Depeche Mode party in Hamburg. It was recorded
and then released as live VHS and CD in May 2000 – known as "On
This Tour Forever". The third single release from "The Point At
Which It Falls Apart" in October 1999 was "Not Prepared". It
was the first time Mesh shot a proper video clip that was shown on various
German music channels like Viva, Viva2 and MTV. But for many the highlight
of that year was definitely the appearance of the band on the show "Chart
Attack" on ZDF in November 1999. During their first small tour across
Europe from October until December 1999, Mesh rocked the venues in France,
Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. As the main act for the Synthie-Pop-Festival
in Krefeld, Mesh played in front of 800 fans in the Kulturfabrik which was
completely sold out. The most successful year to date since the creation of
the band was brought to a close with a sold out show in London and a performance
at the Heavens-Gate-Festival in Strasbourg, France.
2000 - 2002: Change of the label
Because of the great demand
by the fans for songs previously unreleased, Mesh decided to remix these older
tracks and released them in April 2000 on the album entitled "Original
91-93". At the same time, the "Live Singles EP" appeared at
the record shops due to the great demand by the fans for live recordings.
It reached number one in the German Alternative Charts in June 2000 and stayed
in the Top 10 for several weeks. The expectations of the band and fans were
therefore more than adequately met. In May 2000, the concert that was recorded
at the Markthalle in Hamburg in September 1999 was released as video and CD
in a collector’s box. In addition to these live recordings, two video
clips, "Trust You" and "Not Prepared" (along with Making
Of) were also included on the video. As of October 2000 the concert recording
was also only available on CD. In spring/summer 2000, Mesh were guests at
a couple of festivals. In Goeteborg (SAMA-Festival), Great Britain (Whitby-Festival)
and in Arvika (Avika-Festival), Mark, Rich and Neil played in front of thousands
of fans. In autumn, Mesh changed their management and signed to Orbit Records.
Thanks to this contract at a major label, they could give up their jobs and
concentrate on their music wholeheartedly. In collaboration with Mark’Oh,
they released the single "Waves", a cover version of Blancmanges
hit from the 80s, shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, this "experiment"
wasn’t very commercially successful, although they entered the charts
(83) for the very first time and a video was produced again. After that things
quieted down for the band because they were already working at full steam
on new material for the next album. The first US concerts in Chicago, New
York and Orlando as well as performances in Hamburg, Krefeld, London and Zurich
were official highlights for the band in the year 2001. Mesh spent endless
hours in the studio (Urban Studios, Channel House in Bristol) until the new
album "Who Watches Over Me?" was finally completed at the end of
September. In October, they spent three weeks in Hamburg to re-record and
remix the new album in collaboration with the producer Peter "BlackPete"
Schmidt (Depeche Mode) at the Home-Studios. Subsequently, they spent three
more days at the Galaxy Studios in Belgium for the mastering of the new album
by Ronald Prent (Rammstein). "Who Watches Over Me?" was finally
released in 2002 through Home Records (the new name of Orbit) and Sony/Columbia.
The album was a milestone in the bands development and together with the singles
"Leave You Nothing" and "Friends Like These" (a chart
entry in the German mainstream singles chart as well as a number one in the
Deutsche Alternative Charts) helped the band reach a new audience.
2006 - We Collide and
Crash
Successful tours of Germany and headline festival spots throughout Europe
followed. A combination of touring, re-assessing and record company changes
slowed progress on the follow up album but March 2006 finally sees the release
of the band´s new album "We Collide". For the band this was
their proudest achievement to date. Taking their trademark sound and focusing
on the song-writing, melodies and production that combines their electronic
roots with their love of guitars and 'real' instruments has helped them stand
out once more. Calling on the experience of Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Futureheads,
Embrace) for the final mixing has helped the band achieve their vision. The
single "Crash" from the album entered the German Top 100 at number
88
New distribution deals in several countries combined, a major publishing deal
in the USA plus touring helped the band reach ever more people over the coming
months. On September 13th, 2006 Neil Taylor announced that he was leaving
the band to pursue other interests, saying "15 years is a long time and
for me the time has come to move on and I need to give some headspace to other
things in life". Mark Hockings and Rich Silverthorn have unequivocally
stated their desire to continue making music as Mesh.
Mesh has recruited keyboardist Geoff Pinckney to act as a replacement for
Taylor during their live performances.
2009 - Only Better / A Perfect Solution
After three years of Silence, Mesh reported back with "Only better",
a smashing Single Track. "Only Better" shows the band in a harder,
grittier and more mature style compared to their earlier Synthpop releases.
But fortunately they managed to keep the killer hooks, catchy melodies and
great vocals by front man Mark Hockings. As usual, their B-sides are also
hidden gems, and this also shows in their current treat "Shattered Glass",
one of the hardest tracks they have done so far, yet equally catchy. Also,
don’t miss out on the great Club mix, beefed up by german producer wizard
Olaf Wollschlaeger. After its release "Only Better" instantly entered
the German Top 100 at number 84 and is the advance single from the highly
acclaimed forthcoming new Mesh album "A Perfect Solution" which
will be released in October 2009. "A Perfect Solution“ is possibly
the most mature, mutable and yet toughest album of their career. While no
one doubts Mark Hocking’s status as an exceptional vocalist, a complete
listen to this album also serves to highlight the band’s songwriting
and arrangement skills. Once pegged as a purely retro synth act, Mesh have
mutated into a true live band, and the resulting versatility in the arrangements
transforms what might have merely been 11 good songs into outstanding ones.
Thematically, „A Perfect Solution“ is a bit darker than previous
releases. The tone of the album is typefied by „If We Stay Here“,
a tale of broken relationships between people who once loved each other but
who now just exist in the same space. The massive housing facade pictured
on the cover further symbolizes the painful dramas which take place behind
its windows. The wires running throughout the artwork are both safety lines
and shackles – anything but „A Perfect Solution“. Were the
album musically as dismal and hopeless as it is lyrically, „A Perfect
Solution“ might be too much to handle, but luckily Mesh know how to
strike the delicate balance between „bitter“ and „sweet“.
Discography:
Fragile (Mini Album) 1994
In This Place Forever (Album) 1996
Fragile (Album) 1997
You Didn't Want Me (Maxi) 1997
Fragmente (Compilation Album) 1998
Trust You (Maxi) 1998
It Scares Me (Maxi) 1999
Not Prepared (Maxi) 1999
People Like Me (With This Gun) 1999
The Point At Which It Falls Apart (Album) 1999
Live Singles EP (EP) 2000
On This Tour Forever 2000
Original 91 - 93 (Comp) 2000
Waves (Maxi) 2000
Fragmente 2 (Compilation Album) 2002
Friends Like These (Maxi) 2002
Leave You Nothing (Maxi) 2002
Who Watches Over Me? (Album) 2002
Crash (Maxi) 2006
My Hands Are Tied / Petrified (Maxi) 2006
We Collide (Album) 2006
Only Better (Maxi) 2009
A Perfect Solution (CD-Album) 2009