Pilgrimage of the Soul

Out on May 27, 2022 (CD/Digital)
Out on Nov 11, 2022 (LP)
via Temporary Residence Ltd.

My Story, The Buraku Story" is a new feature-length documentary film that explores the discrimination against a group of people – commonly called “the burakumin” – who were classed into lowly groups and segregated from the rest of Japanese society. This discrimination is not by race or ethnicity, but rather by place of residence and bloodline, and has existed for centuries – albeit very rarely acknowledged or discussed in Japan. When director Yusaku Mitsuwaka imagined the exemplary score for such a culturally sensitive and significant subject, he idealized MONO to help tell this story through their legendarily cinematic music.

Following their recent experiments with electronic textures infused into their trademark dynamic rock compositions, "My Story, The Buraku Story" finds MONO at their most understated and elegiac. The songs that make up "My Story, The Buraku Story" are largely built around piano, strings, synths, and choral vocal loops. As one might expect from MONO, the arrangements are masterworks of understated execution with oversized emotional resonance. By far MONO’s most delicate album, it is a fitting document of the band’s first-ever full-length film soundtrack.

1. Doumyaku
2. Watashi
3. Kokyo
4. Yurameki
5. Gohon no yubi
6. Kioku
7. Kattou
8. Chinmoku
9. Himitsu
10. Songen
11. The Place

Credit:
Produced by Takaakira 'Taka' Goto & Jeremy deVine
Mixed by Takaakira ‘Taka’ Goto at Studio Forty-4
Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service
Artwork, Design & Layout by Seiya Ogino of Ogino Design

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Out Now on LP, CD & Digital
via Temporary Residence Ltd. (US), Pelagic Records (EU) & New Noise (CN)

"Pilgrimage of the Soul" is the 11th studio album in the 22-year career of Japanese experimental rock legends, MONO. Recorded and mixed – cautiously, anxiously, yet optimistically – during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, "Pilgrimage of the Soul" is aptly named as it not only represents the peaks and valleys where MONO are now as they enter their third decade, but also charts their long, steady journey to this time and place.

Continuing the subtle but profound creative progression in the MONO canon that began with "Nowhere Now Here" (2019), "Pilgrimage of the Soul" is the most dynamic MONO album to date (and that’s saying a lot). But where MONO’s foundation was built on the well-established interplay of whisper quiet and devastatingly loud, "Pilgrimage of the Soul" crafts its magic with mesmerizing new electronic instrumentation and textures, and – perhaps most notably – faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno. It all galvanizes as the most unexpected MONO album to date – replete with surprises and as awash in splendor as anything this band has ever done.

MONO began in Japan at the end of the 20th Century as a young band equally inspired by the pioneers of moody experimental rock (My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai) and iconic Classical composers (Beethoven, Morricone) who came before them. They have evolved into one of the most inspiring and influential experimental rock bands in their own right. It is only fitting that their evolution has come at the glacial, methodical pace that their patient music demands. MONO is a band who puts serious value in nuance, and offers significant rewards for the wait.

1. Riptide
2. Imperfect Things
3. Heaven in a Wild Flower
4. To See a World
5. Innocence
6. The Auguries
7. Hold Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand
8. And Eternity in an Hour

Featuring:
Violin & Orchestration: Susan Voelz
Violin: Andra Kulans, Vannia Phillips & Emi Tanabe
Cello: Alison Chesley, Anna Steinhoff, Nora Barton & Kelsee Vandervall
Trumpet & Brass Co-Arrangement: Chad McCullough
French Horn: Liz Deitemyer
Trombone: Matthew Davis

Credit:
Produced by Takaakira 'Taka' Goto, Jeremy deVine & Steve Albini
Recorded & Mixed by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio
Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service
Artwork by Ahmed Emad Eldin
Art Direction, Design & Layout by Jeremy deVine
Music Films by Alison Group

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