The New Mourning is the latest song-writing vehicle of musician and recording engineer Thomas Pronai. Pronai runs the only fully analogue studio in Austria, set in the rural fringes of the Pannonian Steppe. In this idyllic setting he recorded a string of legendary acts from the Austrian music scene (Der Nino aus Wien, Ernst Molden, Ja, Panik just to name a few) in addition to his own band projects (The Beautiful Kantine Band, Le Charmant Rouge, Bo Candy and his Broken Hearts).
The concept of The New Mourning began while touring Germany with Pete Astor (The Weather Prophets, The Loft), James Hoare (Veronica Falls, The Proper Ornaments) and Rose Keeler-Schäffeler (Keel Her, Tim Burgess). The experience of a proper live band, playing simple, reduced rock ‘n’ roll songs without any frills and furbelows, inspired Pronai to recreate that very feeling on tape. Three months later he found himself in London laying the tracks for two new songs onto Hoare’s Studer 16-track tape machine for the band’s debut single (Who’d Stop The Sun, Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten KUS22, 7“ vinyl).
The New Mourning sound is as simple as the songs. A stoic drum beat over a bare song, usually constructed around two chords, eschewing special effects or manipulation. But the defining feature of the band’s sound is in the way Pronai places most of the hook and melody lines on the bass guitar, using the instrument much like a lead guitar.
Following their debut single, The New Mourning toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland, pausing only for two days to lay backing tracks onto an eight-track tape recorder at Pronai’s studio.
The Touch is the first single from these sessions and the forthcoming album.
“We feel far too much and yet yearn for the touch”.
In an age of social distancing and lonely uncertainty, The Touch speaks to a world in crisis.
Although written two years ago, the lyrics eerily presage the current mood, the curious cocktail of frustration, hope and despair; and in doing so imply that we have suffered – and overcome – such things before.
Aesthetically the song epitomises the concept that drives The New Mourning: the stoic drums, simple and warm guitars and melodic bass weave a sensation that lingers long after. The mood shifts as the sound expands into the chorus and then the break, lifting and lightening so that you can virtually feel the touch of the sun rising into a new morning.
The New Mourning is:
Thomas Pronai – vocals, Fender VI bass
Gerald Allacher – drums
Georg Allacher – guitar, vocals
Michi Rieder – guitar
Rhythm & Clues 77
