Mr Wednesday define their sound as “concept based electronic art-rock”, put more simply, it is music that tells a story or represents a theme. ‘The narrative of ‘The Garden’ “follows a three day sequence in the life of Mr Wednesday as he comes to terms with the world according to Mr Industry”. Mr Industry is essentially the dreamless moneyman and his world is the produce to consume global megatropolis. The album is comprised of chapters rather than songs and is a listening experience with a beginning, middle and end.

Behind this concept driven music are five musicians – Moon on vocals, Duncan Campbell on keys/sampler/laptop/piano accordian, Eamon Bellew on electric/acoustic guitar, Luke Johnston on bass/synth and Ryan Manolakis on drums/percussion; who explore both the atmosphere of physical place as well as internal head spaces with their sound – sometimes it is a quietly unsettling ambient soundscapes dominated by string orchestrations, while other times it may be a rocked out ballad reminiscent of a bluesy T-Rex.

As Mr Industry’s environment is the city – The Garden Where Parties Grow essentially means the city – the sense of heartless urban space is communicated strongly as is the lonely struggle of the individual within this space. There are samples of footsteps on pavement, the repetitious bleeps of suburbian crossings, doors slamming, and some quiet percussion and electronics keeps the cold heart of the city pulsing. Yet, Mr Wednesday’s narration is not always subtle, in fact, at times it possesses a dramatic element reminiscent of musical theatre. There are quietly unsettling moments, definitely, but they are often pervaded by intensity in the form of power vocals from Moon or just emotionally injected orchestration. The opening track Kismet, for example, is a quietly percussive electronic soundscape with cello and keys weaving their way throughout. At its peak the quiet is crashed by drums and Moon’s vocals go from gentle ballad to almost metal; this is not an unusual progression for their sound to take.

Mr Wednesday present us with a very unique approach to both music and social commentary. They have some beautiful composition, a favourite of mine being Sea Level, which is a hypnotic and eerie synthesised tidal pattern drowning a child’s telling of Mr Industry’s story; However, at times, I found it a little too over top for my personal taste.