Curve Of The Earth Mystery Jets

• 1Telomere03:53
• 2Bombay Blue04:55
• 3Bubblegum04:25
• 4Midnight's Mirror05:56
• 5198504:04
• 6Blood Red Balloon06:43
• 7Taken By The Tide05:36
• 8Saturnine06:21
• 9The End Up06:30
• Total Runtime48:23

Info for Curve Of The Earth

Mystery Jets may hail from England, but as their career has spanned over five albums, they've begun to sound more and more American, and their latest record Curve of the Earth is the next step in their progression towards Yankee assimilation. 2012's Radlands was an odd blend of Cool Britannia and good ol' fashioned Americana—imagine four scrawny British lads in oversized cowboy boots and 10-gallon hats and you'll come to grips with the cognitive dissonance of listening to the album. On Curve of the Earth that country twang is a distant memory (only hinted at by the occasional wisp of a slide guitar), now eclipsed by the emotional maturity and ambitious swell of their latest effort. In a statement about their new record, the Jets shared their desire to convey a "bigger picture" and to write "a suite of songs that could transcend our own 'skull-sized kingdoms'"; with a name as intimidating and awe-inspiring as Curve of the Earth they were obviously aiming for the sky (and beyond). Tracks like "1985" and "Taken by the Tide" are built for arena exposure, soaring on orchestral strings and booming riffs unlike anything the Jets have ever done before. Blaine Harrison proves he's as comfortable rattling off commercial-ready hooks about having a crush on your neighbor as he is singing plaintive meditations about human DNA ("Telomere") and astronomy ("Saturnine," "Blood Red Balloon"). Curve of the Earth is an ode to the uncertainty of the quarter-life crisis that somehow manages to make that awkward entry into maturity sound bittersweet and beautiful at once.

Blaine Harrison, vocals, guitar
William Rees, guitar
Matt Park, pedal steel
Henry Harrison, keyboards
Jack Flanagan, bass
Kapil Trivedi, drums

Mystery Jets
The Syd Barrett-worshiping indie outfit Mystery Jets formed in the early '90s when the group's shock-headed frontman, Blaine Harrison, was only 12. The band was initially called the Misery Jets, in honor of the Heathrow-bound jets that habitually roared over their native Eel Pie Island, but they changed their name when Blaine (who, again, was very young at the time) misspelled "misery." The Mystery Jets were essentially a family project, with Blaine on drums; Blaine's dad, Henry Harrison, on bass; and Blaine's friend William Rees on guitar. Henry eventually switched from bass to guitar, Kai Fish joined up as the group's bassist, and Blaine switched from drums to keyboards. The group tried out a drum machine and a local kid named Max before finally latching onto drummer Kapil Trevedi. Five Tracks EP, recorded soon after Trevedi joined the group, was released on 679 Records in 2005, and their first full-length album, Making Dens, was released the following year. Zootime, a collection of Making Dens tracks plus remixes and songs from 2006 EPs such as You Can't Fool Me Dennis and Diamonds in the Dark, was released by Dim Mak in spring 2007. Released in 2008, Twenty One peaked at number 42 on the U.K. albums chart and boasted the single "Young Love," featuring indie folk queen Laura Marling. The band's third full-length, Serotonin, arrived in 2010. Following a secret show at the 2011 SXSW festival, the band set up a mobile studio and recorded the Texas-informed Radlands record, which was released in April of 2012. Shortly before the release of the album, Fish left Mystery Jets, replaced by Pete Cochrane for their upcoming U.K. tour. The fifth studio album Curve of the Earth was recorded over a three-year period beginning in 2013. The album was entirely self-produced in their homemade studio, marking a shift into progressive rock territory, with Harrison citing Pink Floyd and King Crimson as major influences.

This album contains no booklet.