Name: Introducing The Mellons
Brand: The Mellons

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

LPEL248C

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Colour

Yellow

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-11-11

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Proper

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

810096650955

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / yellow

Artist

The Mellons

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Earth Libraries

Started by a prestigious group of librarians and archivists from around the globe, Earth Libraries was originally formed to ensure protection of the world's knowledge and social history during times of war.

While the group kept their identities unknown, its members are widely associated with the forming of ethnomusicology—the study of music from the cultural and social perspectives of the people who make it. With participation in over 20 countries, the number of chapters peaked in the 1960s. Unfortunately, this once bright light quickly faded due to global political change and funding cuts in the decades that followed. As the 20th century came to an end, Earth Libraries existed in relative obscurity, including a brief period as a mail order catalog during which time the organization sold many of its assets to fund operations.

Nearly 50 years after its creation, Earth Libraries has resurfaced as a new global group of musicologists exploring underground and experimental music. Now functioning as a music label, it focuses on strong artist relationships and technology.

Introducing The Mellons finds that balance somewhere in pages of the Beach Boys book of psych pop. Jepson and Beck unlocked the expansive potential of their songwriting when they found their match in another pair of collaborators.

Multi- instrumentalist and producer Dennis Fuller and percussionist Ian Francis had worked together in a handful of bands, and Jepson and Beck enlisted them to join The Mellons and round out their sound. "All of these pieces of songs that Rob and I had swirling around in our heads started to magically come together," Beck says. 

Though the resultant tracks are jam-packed with everything from clarinets and violins to sleigh bells and trumpets, the layers never overpower the intimate harmonies and honeyed lyrical emotionality at the songs' core. "I wanna get closer/ I wanna go deeper/ I wanna know it all," they sigh on opener "So Much to Say", surrounded by twirling guitar riffs and glimmering bells. 

The Mellons play a symphony's worth of instruments, and self-producing the record largely at Fuller's No. 9 Studios in Salt Lake City allowed them to chase that stratified sweetness to its heartfelt extreme. "Writing, arranging, and composing everything ourselves gives us the freedom to really get the exact sound we're all interested in," Fuller says.

Always focused on the power of a taut hook, The Mellons made sure that freedom was used for a purpose. "We stay true to the musical stylings of the mid- to late-'60s while still creating room for the vogue," Francis says. "It's all about finding that balance." The nostalgic vibe to the psychedelia doesn't end at the music, as the quartet opt for paisley or matching turtlenecks as well as vintage collage. A trained illustrator and designer, Beck funnels visual influences into The Mellons' vibe.

Introducing The Mellons

Music GB