“No Knock at the Door”
By Meursault
Written, performed, and recorded by Neil Pennycook. Copyright ©2011 Meursault
Edinburgh, Scotland–based band Meursault is led by songwriter Neil Pennycook, who is joined by Fraser Calder, Calum Macleod, Phillip Quirie, Pete Harvey, and Gavin Tarling. The band has released two acclaimed albums and one EP on Song, By Toad Records: Pissing on Bonfires / Kissing with Tongues (2008), Nothing Broke (2009), and All Creatures Will Make Merry (2010).
Esopus 17 (Fall 2011)
Esopus CD #17: Fear Itself
After our readers submitted their most intense irrational fears for our fifth subscriber invitational, we invited 13 musicians to select one fear to use as inspiration for a new song for this issue’s CD. Some of the tracks convey these phobias with absolute gravity: For instance, Edinburgh-based band Meursault delivers a haunting and heartbreaking take on Wendy Cohen’s anxiety about dropping dead on the street and leaving loved ones behind (“No Knock at the Door”). But there are lighter approaches, too, like Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt’s “Spew,” a raucous number inspired by Dave Miranda’s fear of vomiting in public. Whether serious or comic, sad or buoyant, all of these wonderful songs prove that fear is as rich and potent a source of musical inspiration as any other human emotion.