The Ghost Moon Orchestra

Any ideas if MA will be releasing a new studio album at the back end of 2011?

Info gained from various web sites over the last couple of months suggests writing sessions have been in progress throughout the year.

Vaguely remember reading (can't remember where now) that the next album will probably be released some time in the new year.

Personally I think it's rather encouraging that the band appear to be extending their writing over a longer period, rather than trying to shoehorn in-depth writing into a pre-assigned 'window' in their schedule. Whilst some bands clearly thrive under pressure, I think - generally speaking - the results tend to be stronger if they've been given time to properly percolate. One of my main 'issues' with Heart Full Of Sky was that quite a few of the ideas didn't seem to have been given enough time to finish forming, something that I think was borne out by the fact that many of the tracks from that album were re-arranged or re-orchestrated for live performances.

Anyway, if the next album is anywhere near as strong as GWDH, then I'm perfectly content for them to take as long as they need to get it right .

They have said a live album is in the pipe line, it would be the first live one with Livvy doing the vocals.

The live album is imminent - Bryan said it would be about a week's time from the stage on Saturday.

HippyDave wrote:

Anyway, if the next album is anywhere near as strong as GWDH, then I'm perfectly content for them to take as long as they need to get it right .

Totally agree.........bar the last minute or so of the title track.

Will be interesting to see what, if any, limited edition pre-release the band come up with that includes a bonus disc.

Possible options not done before:

Acoustic versions of past MA tracks.
Covers.
Unreleased tracks from the back catalogue (if any exist).

New album due late 2011 according to this article:

http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2011/09/06/it-bites-mostly-autumn-set-to-rock-the-carnegie-theatre-workington/

St Nectan wrote:

New album due late 2011 according to this article:

http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2011/09/06/it-bites-mostly-autumn-set-to-rock-the-carnegie-theatre-workington/

Interesting! Cheers for the link, St N!

Quite exciting that we potentially have an album arriving that soon - assuming what the article says is correct (and surely we'll be finding out very soon if it is), I just hope that the band have given themselves enough time to do the material full justice.

The album will be available for pre-order in the next few weeks, yay. An early 2012 release then?

TheAlex wrote:

The album will be available for pre-order in the next few weeks, yay. An early 2012 release then?

Looks like it. I'll be very interested to see what the pre-order package is like this time around, though after thoroughly enjoying Go Well..., it'll have to be particularly lacklustre and/or expensive for me not to fork out for it...

The Ghost Moon Orchestra / A Weather For Poets now available for pre order on the main MA site.

As Sam Lewis has said, it does sound like the title of a Nightwish album. Probably a co-incidence, although Livvy did audition for that band a couple of years back.

"Go Well Diamond Heart" saw the band bounce back strongly for the first record after Heather left the band. With a stable lineup that’s gelled strongly over the course of three tours in the past eighteen months, I'll looking forward to this one a lot.

Be interesting to see how much Iain contributes to the writing now he's no longer got Breathing Space as his main songwriting outlet. Also be nice to see more of Livvy's contributions this time; "Forever Young" and "Questioning Eyes" show a songwriting talent that fits very well with Mostly Autumn's overall sound.

Couldn't agree more on all counts there, Tim!

As I've said before, after Go Well Diamond Heart, I haven't got any misgivings about pre-ordering this time around - all I can hope is that that The Ghost Moon Orchestra, or, as I suppose we'd best get used to calling it, tGMO, lives up to its illustrious predecessor . I too am hoping for more Iain on this record, and hopefully more Livvy too. Both are excellent writers, and I'd far sooner see their muse indulged than another song like Bryan's Something Better. But hey, perhaps he's got that out of his system now!

In fact I tried pre-ordering tGMO at lunchtime, only for the card authorisation to get stuck in an endless loop (it's something to do with the firewall here: it's happened with some other sites too). After checking that the payment didn't go through, I'll just have to have another go when I get home!

Bit of confusion regarding the launch party. which to their credit the band quickly clarified as soon as it was pointed out the original wording wasn't clear that the £35 ticket also includes a copy of the album.

Although it says something about the dedication of some fans that they were prepared to pay £35 for an acoustic gig on top of the price of the album.

Kalyr wrote:

Bit of confusion regarding the launch party. which to their credit the band quickly clarified as soon as it was pointed out the original wording wasn't clear that the £35 ticket also includes a copy of the album.

Although it says something about the dedication of some fans that they were prepared to pay £35 for an acoustic gig on top of the price of the album.

Yep, no-one can fault the enthusiasm of the Mostly Autumn diehards . And yeah, I noted the confusion - good work on the band's admin(s) for getting that sorted promptly and effectively.

So what are we hoping for from the new album? As already mentioned, a bit more Iain and Livvy wouldn't go amiss (but then coming from a Breathing Space fan, that's hardly a surprise )... Hopefully the production will continue with the comparatively high standard achieved on the last two records, further banishing the disappointment of Heart Full Of Sky from memory. Other than that, I'm more than happy to wait and see what is delivered, with the usual caveat that I tend to like the darker stuff a little more (probably why the second half of Storms Over Still Water remains my favourite 'side' of any of MA's albums!)...

It'll be interesting to see which existing MA songs are re-visited for the bonus disc. Hopefully it'll be more a case of digging up some neglected gems, rather than re-visiting the same old same old. If Evergreen or Heroes Never Die end up on the bonus disc, there may be a degree of wailing and gnashing of teeth .

HippyDave wrote:

If Evergreen or Heroes Never Die end up on the bonus disc, there may be a degree of wailing and gnashing of teeth .

Both of those along with Passengers received an acoustic arrangement for the Bob Harris Session last year. If that was the starting point for this project then you may need to get your dentist on stand-by

In the unlikely event anyone hasn't already read this, my thoughts on the evening, and on the new album:
http://www.kalyr.com/weblog/2012/05/13/mostly-autumn-the-ghost-moon-orchestra-launch-party/

Can't post this link to the official MA forum without getting demands to copy-and-paste the entire content "so points raised can be discussed where the moderation is less partisan".

Judging from some postings over on Facebook, copies of the album are starting to turn up in the post now... Hopefully this means we'll all have our own copies by the end of the week...

Something about the cover art, too... I thought the cloud/nebula on the cover (the one that looks like an upturned face) looked familiar, and so it is: the Witch Head nebula, or IC 2118!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_2118

Cool!

It's been a bit over a week since it arrived and I've barely listened to anything else. I think I like it. A lot.

Favourite track (so far) - Wild Eyed Skies