Meursault – Something for the Weakened

Meursault’s third album exhibits much of what has made the band so appealing thus far: a broad range of beautifully arranged instrumentation; Neil Pennycook’s triumphant howl; folk music sensibilities that have been roughed up and pebble-dashed with radio noise; but most importantly, just well-written, emotionally-engaging songs.

The main difference here is that it simply sounds more confident; fully-formed. Singer-songwriter, and head honcho, Pennycook, has been joined by numerous able hands in the past but now, after a particularly solid few years on the live circuit, Meursault has become a truly cohesive collaborative entity.

Five years deep and the quality of music has been audibly strengthened by numbers without overshadowing Pennycook's individual, charismatic musical vision. The ‘Scottish Arcade Fire’ label may have been lazily bandied around in their presence, but if you listen to the likes of Flittin’ and Settling, you’ll find heartfelt anthems of similar, if not superior, multi-layered quality. [Ryan Drever]