Track Listing

1. Moi Et Mon Camion (The Eviction Song)
2. Call Me
3. Shun (Sad Eyed Days)
4. Malcolm
5. Silver Moon Ladders
6. Presume Too Much
7. Lucky Adam
8. Cover Me
9. No Bells Left To Chime
10. The First And Last Waltz

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85699 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

5/5 The Independent
"displays the kind of talent that pop award judges shouldn't be allowed to ignore"
- Album of the week

4/5 MOJO
"bedding down with ember-glowing arrangements"

4/5 Uncut
"Had Thom Yorke penned anything as moving as `Silver Moon Ladders' or `Presume Too Much' for his solo effort, the applause would still be ringing"

Customer Reviews

Me and my new Merz album (7/10)
Merz's singular vocals - pitched somewhere between Bob Dylan and Horace Andy (to my ears anyway) - first surfaced in 1999 with his eponymous debut album and a couple of memorable singles that got a lot of airplay on Radio One and the likes. A mix of (sometimes baroque) folk, hip-hop and drum and bass breaks, and lushly orchestrated pop, it was a very Bristolian take on nineties indie augmented by generous helpings of electronica. Whereas now only the brilliant `Engine Heart' and funky `Lovely Daughter' truly stand out from that record, the feeling is that Merz - with his knack for melody and cross-over appeal - could have been much bigger. In fact he went on a prolonged haitus, resurfacing with a well-received sophomore effort `Loveheart' (that I haven't heard) in 2005.

`Moi and Mon Camion` finds Merz - aka Conrad Lambert - evicted from his home and on the road, opening with the literal (or simulated) sound of the eponymous removal van driving away. The title track that follows is a beautiful piece of Dylan-esque folk, albeit relocated to urban Britain, embellished with some subtle electronics. While Merz's lyrical abilities don't really compare to Dylan's, his croakily nasal vocals are still powefully emotive - better still that he is less acrobatic with them than on his debut. `Call Me' continues in this vein but suffers a little when Lambert over-emotes some particularly prosaic lyrics: "Don't hang your head so low, help me share your load".

`Shun (Sad Eyed Days)' is further leftfield, leaving the folk atmospherics behind for burbling electro - marred slightly at the end by some spectacularly retro synths ugly enough to make Hot Chip blush. This is followed by two more experimental passages but Merz is stronger at image-rich romanticsm (the otherworldly `Silver Moon Ladders') than fey melancholy (the ponderous baroque of `Malcolm').

`Presume Too Much' has the radio-friendly hooks but is a veers a little to close to the middle of the road for my liking. Better is the jaunty `Lucky Adam', an infectious and propulsive folk-pop track. Thereafter Moi and Mon Camion returns to the folksy pastoral textures with (on `Cover Me') a twist of Nick Drake for good measure. While `No Bells Left To Chime' is whimsical and rudderless, Merz transforms into a folk troubador in the mold of Tim Buckley for the final, timeless `The First And Last Waltz'. Despite some false steps, fans of Feist, Bon Iver, Micah P Hinson and aforementioned folk luminaries may find something to like here.

Musical Heaven
This new album from Merz is musical Heaven, beautifully crafted, special songs with imaginative lyrics and entrancing accompaniments. Merz's voice reaches new heights this album is truly magical.

a rootless but hopeful album
Merz was the next big thing that never was, when he delivered his Bristolian riot of an eponymous debut in 1999. After a couple of ear-catching singles, we heard nothing more from him until Loveheart crept in six years later, a mournful, enchanting, and lovelorn album that replaced clattering playfulness with an older, wiser, and folkier sound.

'Moi et Mon Camion' picks up where Loveheart finished, a rootless but hopeful album recorded in a series of locations across the UK. Opening track 'Moi Et Mon Camion' (eviction song) sets the tone, with a removals van starting a pretty acoustic lament about moving on. To add a certain poignancy, backing vocals come courtesy of 'the old man of Bath', a long-term homeless thespian from a local hospice who contributed his harmonies to three songs and asked only a bottle of whisky in payment.

Some songs are happier, like catchy current single 'Presume too much' or 'lucky Adam'. Others work with glimpses of light and sudden breakthroughs, like the surprise melody that bursts through the colliery band dirge of 'Malcolm': "sometimes I feel it's just within my grasp, the truth of things and questions often asked." Elsewhere the tone is gentler, dreamier. 'Silver Moon Ladders' is a charming and surreal reverie: "next day at the jobs we do, no one else has a sense or a clue, we climbed to the moon last night, sat and looked back at the earth's blue light."

Not everything works. Phil Hartnoll, of Orbital, adds some dubious stabs of synth to the end of 'Shun', and every once in a while things lose focus a little. Overall however, this is a strong album, well crafted and full of distinctive songwriting. Conrad Lambert remains a man to watch.