MOJO FURY are a rock band formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They live in Lisburn, just south of Belfast, in their home studio – a converted farmhouse that has allowed them the time and freedom to write and record their second album, The Difference Between.
The band met in Bangor whilst studying at music college, and despite being somewhat “out in the sticks” on the global music map, Northern Ireland has had a fair crack of the whip over the past few years. Friends and contemporaries like And So I Watch You From Afar and Two Door Cinema Club have shown that it’s possible to break out of the country’s borders, whilst labels like Derry’s Smalltown America and their flagship band Jetplane Landing have added credence to this being a region thriving on the wider musical landscape thanks to there being more than just something in the water.
When Mojo Fury’s debut album Visiting Hours of a Travelling Circus landed in 2011, it had already had a gestation period of nearly five years, with the first song ideas starting as crudely as could be expected from teens cutting their teeth. That’s the problem with being “out in the sticks” – when the tree falls, there might not be anyone there to hear it. The finished album, however, was far from crude: an intelligent collection of songs ranging from filthy, almost post-hardcore slices like The Mann to the pumping groove that underpins the synth-laden anthem We Should Just Run Away. Throw in Electric Sea, drenched in heart and harmony, and the honky-tonk piano that drops into the agitated, pure fun of Bones and… well, you’ve got an album that bewitched some people and baffled just as many. Those who were charmed wore their heart on their sleeves:
“They’re ferocious, they’re exciting, they’re challenging, on top of being effortlessly cool; they’re just a brilliant band” ‐ BBC Radio 1
Onwards into 2013, and there’s a band that Artrocker crowned “New Blood” band of the year in 2011 who have a lot to live up to. They’ve matured and in some ways they’ve mellowed; the angst-ridden tone of much of their debut hasn’t found its way so prominently into album two. That’s not to say that they’ve no longer got the bit between the teeth – title track The Difference Between was launched by Kerrang and Classic Rock to announce the album, and recalls Led Zeppelin loaded at their most vibrantly excessive. Alongside this, however, the band released Iris Influential, a song built on melting melodies, a lilting piano refrain and electronic beats; Clash Music launching the track gave an indication as to the new territories that Mojo Fury are heading towards.
New single Origami Bird immediately displays one key element that Mojo Fury will never lose – their fun side. This is about as close to a pop song as they’re going to make; it might even show the band’s love of Prince creeping into their sound. It’s part of an album that is at turns epic, heavy, subtle and certainly danceable. The balance of Mojo Fury’s sound is found and tempered on The Difference Between by its personnel in the studio – mixed by Catherine Marks (Foals, Death Cab For Cutie, The Vaccines) and mastered by Nick Watson (Faith No More, Therapy?, Gary Numan), it’s an album that has been guided by trusted voices.
The Difference Between was released on Friday 18th October 2013 via Pledge Music. Chosen to allow them to interact with their fans as part of the process of the album’s release, the band are offering a number of exclusive incentives to encourage people to get involved in a record that is undoubtedly a document of a band ploughing their own furrow.