NASHVILLE |FR: ALEXANDRA GREENBERG/MSO
818-380-0400 x223, agreenberg@msopr.com
MOREL LIGHTS AGAIN WITH ‘LUCKY STRIKE’
ON YOSHITOSHI RECORDS OCTOBER 19
On MOREL’s new album LUCKY STRIKE, due October 19 on Yoshitoshi Records, the band fronted by Richard Morel once again pushes the limits of just what electro-pop can be. Taking the best elements of both styles, he conjures up seductive lounge exhales and breakneck kick drum chases that never isolate the heads’ need to bang or the asses longing to shake. Lucky Strike is at once a continuation of the 2002 debut Queen of the Highway as a dramatic leap forward for his unique style of progressive house music. It’s Morel and his band–guitarist John Allen, drummer Rob Black, bassist Pat Flood and percussionist/vocalist Dwayne Tyree–and their road-worn style that deserve a lot of the credit.
A cut like “Cheerful,” with its caroming bi-polar disorder, drags the listener through string interludes and sly piano breakdowns before shoving them through the final few minutes with a propulsive snare. There’s even two versions of the song “I’ll Do What I Can Not To Touch You”–one an almost dirge-like dirty soul song; the other a percolating dance floor lament. Other choice tunes on the album include the single “If You Love Me” with lyrics like “It’s getting hard to be with you/It’s getting hard to be by myself/I wish I was you and you were/someone else,” “Under A Disco,” a pumping, sexy-house rocker and “Waiting On You,” destined to catch audiences wide with it’s pop/rock-friendly hook.
As a high-profile fixture of the local electronica underworld, Washington DC-based Morel has collaborated with Deep Dish and remixed Depeche Mode, New Order and The Pretenders. His work with Deep Dish has included mixing and engineering credits to their Grammy Award-winning remix of Dido’s “Thank You,” co-writing and singing and performing on their debut critically acclaimed album Junk Science, as well as singing and co-writing three new songs for their upcoming release due out later this year.
In addition to all this, Morel has also formed a duo with punk rock pioneer Bob Mould called Blowoff. As Blowoff, they throw a weekly underground DJ party at D.C’s 9:30 Club (also look for their debut CD early next year). While Morel’s gilded fingers have garnered a cupboardful of hardware and loads of street cred, it’s his rock n’ roll heart that has helped him create a style that owes as much to Keith Richard’s licks as the dancefloor blips.
www.morelworld.com
www.yoshitoshi.com
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For more information on MOREL, contact:
Alexandra Greenberg/MSO
818-380-0400 x223, agreenberg@msopr.com
