Boa Morte are:
Maurice Hallissey - Drums, drums, drums
Paul Ruxton - Vocals, guitar, bass
Bill Twomey - Guitar, synth, vocals
Cormac Gahan - Vocals, guitar, bass, synth
Discography:
The Total Space - 2023
THE TOTAL SPACE
In what is the band’s fourth album, The Total Space sees Boa Morte edge deeper into the woods of ambient, drone and synthesised sound with little to guide them but their innate melodic compass and instinct for unorthodox song. Daniel Presley, the perma-nomadic Texan producer, flew in to safeguard the Boa Morte fundamentals: emotive yet unsentimental vocals; a disquieting ease with space and silence; percussive interventions on drum-shell, tom-rim and cymbal-cup; an abhorrence of rhythm guitar; harmonies that add rather than dilute personality, and a bloody-minded patience when it comes to pacing.
BEGINNINGS, MIDDLINGS, ENDINGS
Boa Morte formed in Cork, Ireland in 1998, rising from the dust of a couple of ragged but respected indie bands. By the end of that year, the band released their debut EP "Passenger, Measure Your Time", produced by Mark Carolan. That record sparked record label interest, culminating in the band signing to US label Moodfood Records, home of Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown, in 1999.
The debut album was recorded by Daniel Presley, well respected for his work with Spain and The Breeders, in Sun Studios in Dublin. Then, just before the scheduled release date, Moodfood went bankrupt. Things got messy - in the end it took the band and their lawyers until 2002 to recover the tapes.
In stepped Shoeshine Records, the Glasgow imprint run by Teenage Fanclub drummer Francis MacDonald. In July 2002, 'Soon It Will Come Time To Face The World Outside', the debut album, was released to widespread critical acclaim. Those impressed by the record included Uncut, Mojo, Q Magazine and John Peel. The band toured throughout Ireland and the UK, playing with the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Calexico and Howe Gelb.
Boa Morte’s second album, “The Dial Waltz” (2009) followed a similar aesthetic and was equally well-received, with Q magazine hailing the record as a “supremely elegant sound-track for staring into your half-empty pint.”
It was a full decade before the band recorded their third album “Before There Was Air”. which saw them infuse their brand of slow-burning, alternative folk with elements of electronic, ambient and new-classical music. The album was released to strong reviews by London label Gare Du Nord in September 2019.
With new songs flowing and a dedicated studio space in Cork city centre, the band maintained momentum and had a new album ready to record by early 2021. After the inevitable pandemic delay they entered Black Mountain Studio in September where they were re-united with Daniel Presley to begin recording what was to become their fourth album, 'The Total Space’.
