Some albums ask for a laidback listening. Some you can listen to casually, put them in cars or in bars, making people fall in love for the length of one song, making them ask “Wow who’s that?”… Some other albums may seem hermetic when you first taste them, because they need to be listened to in one sitting, while doing nothing else. Then, you are able to hear the distant but rapidly approaching siren’s call to dive into them, to drown into them.
Murena Murena’s albums, though, manage to be extremely satisfying in whichever kind of listening you give them. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. From different networks, in different cities and universes, I watched people’s faces light up with that very special glow of getting surprised and transported by music. I’ve watched people fall in love with songs while listening to Murena Murena, the same way I fell in love with Ghoaster Coaster, some time ago. And it’s a boundless love adventure. You can always dig deeper into the Murena Murena sound and always find hidden gems you’ve overlooked before. Just like Ghoaster Coaster, Shame Over is willing to embark the journey of a long-term relationship with you.
Let’s talk about the seduction of Shame Over. Let’s talk about the instant attraction of its haunting refrains and the captivating, ever-so-stunning vocal performance of Daniel Murena, his sometimes murmured, sometimes shouted lyrics that unfold in catching stories. In these stories, though, is where the true entrancement begins. Universal themes that resonate on a very personal level. Secrets uttered, by the storyteller or the mouths of these grandiose characters in the Murenaverse. Maybe that’s why we have Ghoaster Coaster’s Happy Anton as the cover of Shame Over : a totem for all these dark personas introduced to us.
Let it burn deep in our hearts!
What does hurt them so so so so?
Don’t you know what I mean to you?
Get the fuck up! Keep going!
Now their wine was blood and their bread was meat.
I knew this would happen!
Do you remember, when you were still with me?
Love, love, love is hell!
It´s tearing my heart out… Are you ashamed of me?
Who do you think you are?
Turned into fossil fuel… burning fossil fuel.
One verse of each song of the album. Punctuation marks that translate in vibrant melodic discourses. Love. Perversion. Change. Tales of blood. Blood that carries dark secrets from the past. Blood that pumps hard from forbidden ecstasy. Blood that got spilt and blood that was tasted. Hearts that stopped beating a long time ago. Hearts torn out and hearts burning. The stories told in Shame Over are indeed a dark shade of red, in a world where the clock is always ticking. Will this go on or will things change? Will they let go or not? Each piece of Murena Murena’s second album is a portrait, sometimes a fixed point in time, sometimes an epic fable that takes place on years.
Shame Over, an album to drive to, drink to or dive into, over and over again, without shame.
Available through Totally Wired Records, Echokammer and Bandcamp.