moneen.
“If Tragedy Is Appealing, Then Disaster’s An Addiction”
Download only single released August 13th
Taken from their new album “The Red Tree” (out now on Vagrant Records)
Working on their latest album The Red Tree, Moneen had a new awakening. For a band that is accustomed to touring extensively and taking only a month off to write an album before going back on the road, having real time to work on their songs was a concept they werent used to. The process was both refreshing and painful, but the frustration that came from continually analyzing their work turned into determination to make the best album they could. The payoff is a mature and diverse record where each song is epic, not in length but in scope.
After three relatively solid years of touring to promote Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now, playing Europe and the UK for the first time, and sharing the stage with bands such as Muse and Taking Back Sunday, the band spent half a year at home in and around Toronto working on material. When they went to Baltimore in July 2005 to work with producer Brian McTernan (Hot Water Music, Snapcase, Thrice) they began the dissecting and rebuilding their songs. At times disheartening, the process caused friction that was documented in the film The Start to This May Be the End to Another by Alex Liu. Since this was the only period of the recording process that was filmed, the documentary gives the impression that making this album was torturous for Moneen. Though the first week was tough, the following weeks found the members coming together and enjoying themselves. After the release of Are We Really Happy.... the boys became legendary for their tight, stop-start arrangements, and song titles that go on for miles. While the names of their tunes havent shortened at all-in fact the new album features some monikers that certainly wont fit on an iPod screen, such as The Frightening Reality Of The Fact That We Will All Have To Grow Up And Settle Down One Day and There Are A Million Reasons For Why This May Not Work....And Just One Good One For Why It Will - the new songs are more cohesive and less frenetic than past albums.
In pre production, it seemed to the band that the album was going to be very dark. Lyrics such as Let¹s be tragic/Let¹s be sad, He said, were all dead and This kind of love wont last it never does do seem to suggest lamenting and morbidity, but the music itself promotes excitement rather than depression.
Though the lyrics dont always reflect directly on the band, the line I found a box which said open and choose / Youll find two notes/One says you might succeed/ The other reads you'l ruin everything pretty much sums up Moneen: both optimistic and self-deprecating.
www.vagrant.uk.com www.moneen.com 
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August 13th, 2006
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Moneen Download only single released August 13th
