Eye, the second album from THE MON – the solo project of Ufomammut member Urlo – was released in May through Supernatural Cat Records. Now, just exclusively premiered with Everything Is Noise, a new video for the LP’s song “Secret,” as Urlo prepares to perform the project’s first live gigs and a European tour with Ufomammut, is streaming at: The Mon - Secret (Official Video) - YouTube
Urlo, who is most widely known as the lead vocalist, bassist, synth player and one of the founding members of the heavy psych Italian band Ufomammut. He is also one of the three minds behind the poster art trio Malleus Rock Art Lab, and one of the operators of Supernatural Cat Records. The aim of THE MON is to reach the boundaries of a spiritual soundscape in which the music becomes purification and atonement, a way to bring out the world that is inside the human soul. Where Ufomammut creates mind-expanding, heavy psychedelic, almost other-dimensional sounds, THE MON is far more intimate, looking inward, as Urlo explores and examines his innermost thoughts through music. THE MON builds layers of brooding sounds which sometimes unfurl at a glacial pace and other times lurch with rhythmic propulsion, each piece distinct, densely packed, and all-consuming in their evocative atmospheres.
In comparison to its predecessor, Doppelleben, THE MON’s Eye LP is more introspective and denser, the new record built around electronic soundscapes and acoustic atmospheres that take you on a sonic journey where the songs flow nonstop into one another. While Urlo performs the entire musical foundation of the album, he is joined by a cast of special guests, with vocal/lyrical contributions from Steve Von Till (Neurosis), Colin H. Van Eeckhout (Amenra), and Francesca De Franceschi Manzoni, as well as violins from Sarah Pendleton (Subrosa, The Otolith), and guitars from David W (White Hills).
Eye was written, performed, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Urlo at The Howl, Italy, and the artwork completed by the Malleus Rock Art Lab collective. While choosing a singular genre for THE MON’s Eye is surely a difficult challenge, one could classify the album as heavy dark folk electronic.
With the new video, Urlo reveals, “‘Secret’ is a song about friendship, loss, separation. I imagined all this as a galaxy in which our emotions become stars, waterfall of colors, lights in which we lose ourselves. In this period, I'm preparing THE MON's live shows and I've worked a lot on the configuration of my pedalboard. One evening, looking at all those lights turning on and off, I thought they were a small galaxy, a pocket universe from which sounds and emotions filter. And I tried to take close-ups, discovering a hidden world that perfectly reflected ‘Secret.’”
Eye is out now available on limited 12” Blue and Red vinyl variants, digipak CD, and all digital services via Supernatural Cat. Order at the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE!
Urlo is preparing to take THE MON live for the project’s maiden shows, with three performances booked in October. See the confirmed dates below and watch for more to be booked in the months ahead.
THE MON Live:
- 1210.2023 Teatro Linguaggi Creativi – Milano, IT
- 13.10.2023 Raindogs – Savona, IT
- 22.10.2023 Freakout – Bologna, IT
UFOMAMMUT Live:
- 29.10.2023 Samhain festival – Maastricht (NL)
- 30.10.2023 Feierwerk – Munich (DE)
- 04.11.2023 Sonic Rites – Helsinki (FI)
- 15.11.2023 Mostovna – Nova Gorica (SLO)
- 16.11.2023 Arena – Wien (AT)
- 17.11.2023 Turbina – Budapest (HU)
- 18.11.2023 Stadtwerkstatt – Linz (AT)
- 19.11.2023 Kamienna – Krakow (PL)
- 20.11.2023 Hydrozagadka – Warsaw (PL)
- 21.11.2023 Kabinet Muz – Brno (CZ)
- 22.11.2023 Club 007 Strahov – Prague (CZ)
- 23.11.2023 Cassiopeia – Berlin (DE)
- 24.11.2023 Hafenklang – Hamburg (DE)
- 25.11.2023 4AD – Diksmuide (BE)
- 26.11.2023 GeBAude 9 – Koln (DE)
- 27.11.2023 P8 – Karlsruhe (DE)
- 29.11.2023 Effenaar – Eindhoven (NL)
- 30.11.2023 Le Bulle – Lille (FR)
- 01.12.2023 Petit Bain – Paris (FR)
- 02.12.2023 La Poudriere – Belfort (FR)
- 03.12.2023 Old Capitol-Langenthal (CH)