THE NEW MOURNING
The New Mourning is the latest song-writing vehicle of musician and recording engineer Thomas Pronai. Pronai runs a (mostly) analogue studio in eastern Austria, set in the rural fringes of the Pannonian Steppe. In this idyllic setting he recorded a string of legendary acts from the Austrian music scene (Der Nino aus Wien, Ernst Molden, Ja, Panik just to name a few) in addition to his own band projects (Bo Candy & His Broken Hearts, Defoe & Pronai, Le Charmant Rouge,…).
The concept of The New Mourning began while touring Germany as drummer in Pete Astor’s band (The Weather Prophets, The Loft) alongside James Hoare (Veronica Falls, The Proper Ornaments) and Rose Keeler-Schäffeler (Keel Her, Tim Burgess). The experience of a real live band, playing simple, reduced rock ‘n’ roll songs without any frills and furbelows, inspired Pronai to recreate that very feeling on tape. Three months later he found himself in London laying the tracks for two new songs onto Hoare’s Studer 16-track tape machine for the band’s debut single (Who’d Stop The Sun, Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten KUS22, 7” vinyl).
The New Mourning sound is as simple as the songs. A stoic drum beat over a bare song, usually constructed around two chords, eschewing special effects or manipulation. But the defining feature of the band’s sound is in the way Pronai places most of the hook and melody lines on his Bass VI guitar, using the instrument much like a lead guitar.
Following their debut single, The New Mourning toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland, pausing only for two days to lay backing tracks onto an eight-track tape recorder at Pronai’s studio.
The work on the album was completed in January 2020, but due to the pandemic When The Light Fades (Noise Appeal Records, noise123 LP) didn’t see the light of day until May 2022.
In January 2024 the band gathered once more in Pronai’s studio to start recording the second album. Two years of live shows have sharpened the sound. The Bass VI is ever more central to the sound, transforming The New Mourning into a three guitar band.
The new recordings have a rougher sound than the debut album, with the ghost of 80s and 90s Indie music always floating through them. Echoes of Spacemen 3, Galaxie 500, Luna, The Velvet Underground, Can, Sonic Youth, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Proper Ornaments and others reverberate through the songs.
Songs of Confusion – inspired by Spacemen 3’s The Sound of Confusion – will be released January ’25 on Noise Appeal Records.
