Persimmon by Mortimer, Be Quiet.
Persimmon is an album of multi-phased and orchestrally layered songs about the loneliness and isolation of growing up and growing apart.
From friends and family, from society, and from even your own body.
Starting off as accidents on the piano, through continual play over years, these small phrases developed into ornate orchestral compositions. Think Owen Pallett’s “Heartland” at the hands of Julia Holter. A record for those who prefer “The Dreaming” to “Hounds of Love”, and miss the beautiful and violent juxtapositions of St Vincent’s “Actor”, but with a love for Morricone.
Inspired by film scores, these orchestrations are embroidered with foley sounds like ocean waves, street noises, to even gunshots and dogs howling, embellishing the cinematic atmosphere.
Like the title’s namesake (Persimmon, a fruit), the first half of the record’s manically shifting and violent propulsive arrangements have their guard up, presenting an astringency that when left to ripen by the second half, falls apart in a syrupy and complexly sweet mess.
Ultimately, with this record I present a negotiation between either succumbing to the depths of despair or the uncertain potentials of hope. And I like to think by the closing track “Dare to Hope” I’ve chosen the latter.
This album marks the first time having collaborated with other musicians. Anh Phung and Alan Mackie contributed live flute and upright bass to these recordings, providing liveliness amidst my singing, piano and accordion playing, and synth, string, and beat programming.
This project has been immensely meaningful, and despite being one of the most ambitious undertakings of my life so far, working on these songs has proven to be personally cathartic, and to be able to provide an outlet for others to also process this heaviness would be incredibly gratifying.
Tracklist
| 1. | (Prelude) An Astringent Heart Falls Apart | 1:06 |
| 2. | Took The Dog For A Long Walk | 3:53 |
| 3. | Pitchforks | 3:00 |
| 4. | Spent | 3:29 |
| 5. | The Alchemist | 5:22 |
| 6. | After Dark | 5:42 |
| 7. | In A State Of Being Left | 6:39 |
| 8. | Sure As Spring | 5:09 |
| 9. | Wayne Sucks His Thumb | 3:17 |
| 10. | A Mouthful Of Sea, Consumes Me | 0:53 |
| 11. | Keep Lying To Yourself, Pinocchio | 5:00 |
| 12. | Harm Of Will | 4:49 |
| 13. | Half My Heart Left For St. John's | 6:02 |
| 14. | One More Goodbye | 0:57 |
| 15. | Dare To Hope | 3:58 |
| 16. | First Venture (Reprise) | 0:52 |
Credits
All Songs Written By James Knott
(Except Where Noted)
Harm Of Will - Harmony Korine, Björk, Guy Sigsworth
One More Goodbye - Lyrics Adapted From
“Contact Study: Rehearsals In Minor Abstraction”
By Francisco Fernando-Granados
All Instruments Performed And Programmed By James Knott
(Except Where Noted )
Flute, Alto Flute, And Piccolo On 2, 3, 6, 13 - Anh Phung
Upright Bass On 2, 3, 4, 11, 13 - Alan Mackie
Written 2017-2023
Recorded March 2022 - May 2023
Mixed And Mastered By James Knott
Except 2, 5, 6, 12 - By James And Wayne Knott
Photography By Nicholas Aiden
Silk Screened Butterflies By Monique Martin
Concept By James Knott
Art Direction And Graphic Design By James Knott
Thanks To:
Mom, Wayne, Anh, Alan, Francisco, Simran, Evelyn,
Mary-Kate, Xhesika, Janet, Nicholas, Monique, Gerald, Moe,
Auntie-Net, Milada, Julianne, Maria Belén, Hil, Rida, Ash,
Vanessa, Richard
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Mortimer, Be Quiet. is the musical project of Toronto based artist James Knott. Named after their creaky-voiced grump of a piano, Mortimer, Be Quiet. makes manic art pop; shifting between genres and time signatures with the masochistically wry confessional awareness of a singer-songwriter, and the absurdity of a mad scientist desperately seeking satisfaction (and never finding it).