Eden Mulholland

Probably this shouldn't work. Music for dance pieces have to be special to exist without the moving images -- and yet in theory they should be able to do exactly that.

These do.

Eden Mulholland has written for numerous New Zealand dance productions and is the singer-songwriter in the rock band Motorcade, but here he collects 23 discreet, mostly electronic pieces which utilise backward tapes, bubbling electronica, distant voices, subtle beats, prepared piano, odd instrumentation and so on.

These self-contained musical pieces (some as short as a minute, others stretching towards six and seven minutes) bring to mind the more experimental work of Arthur Russell, the ambient work of Brian Eno, German groups like Cluster, and the "fourth world" music of Jon Hassell.

Stories aren't so much told here as suggested (that is in the nature of their origins I guess) but as a collection of pieces which had diverse original purposes this hangs together extremely well as a predominantly instrumental album to become immersed in.

The first of a series apparently. Good. I certainly look forward to more.

By Graham Reid, posted Mar 21, 2010 - Graham Reid review

Hooray for the second single from Melbourne's Eden Mulholland! Taken from the upcoming debut solo album Feed The Beast, "Blueprint" showcases Eden's knack of crafting some pretty catchy indie pop tunes. In fact, I'm impressed that his quality of work hasn't diminished while working on both Motocade and his own solo project.

As witnessed in the first single, Eden possesses a unique and chameleon-like pop voice that dynamically changes the feel of each and everyone one of his songs. This particular single has a very Foster the People kind of vibe, but I think that may come down to Eden's voice sounding vaguely similar to Mark Foster himself. - Indie Shuffle

As soon as I heard about Feed the Beast, debut solo foray of Motorcade’s mouth, Eden Mulholland, I was eager to get my hands on it. There comes a time in every young slave to the wage’s life where you’re forced to listen to music you really wouldn’t if you had a choice.

For me that time was my tenure as a customer service drone at a prominent fast food restaurant. During those dark times there were two tracks that shone through the pre-autotune sludge that was pop; Motorcade’s Bomb Squad and My Friends.

For those of you, like me, who start the musical journey that is Feed the Beast, expecting Motorcade, you’re in for a surprise. Feed the Beast couldn’t be further removed from Motorcade’s signature hooky poppy rock sound. What Mulholland has crafted is an experimental, multilayered aural masterpiece that defies genre.

No two songs are the same in any sense. Each track appeals to a different sense of appreciation of musical aesthetics. The entire range of human emotion is touched upon over these twelve short tracks, illustrating the incredible talent of Mulholland.

Not immediately danceable in the Saturday night in town sense, these beautiful compositions would be the perfect soundtrack to a freestyle interpretive dance. People drunk in town on a Saturday probably wouldn’t get it anyway. There is great depth to this music, so many subtleties in the layers, so many feelings evoked.

Feed the Beast is available for download and streaming from Eden Mulholland’s Bandcamp (http://edenmulholland.bandcamp.com/). - Music.net.nz

Eden Mulholland wears multiple musical hats - he's in the Mots with brothers Jol and Will, he's the driving force behind Motocade, and he composes music for dance and theatre shows. On debut solo album Feed the Beast he meshes his more rhythmical, dance composition leanings with a real knack for pop hooks, and comes up with one of the most brilliantly eclectic indie pop albums of the year. His instrumental prowess is clear, with a beautiful lonesome piano part among the guitar ostinato on Supermarket Blues, while the piano solo on Where is My Jealousy has a deep propulsive pull. Early single I Will Echo is a joyous pop sing-along, and frenetic, spiralling, Body Double with its layers of pulsating synths, and vocoder vocals, is infectiously groovy.

Feed the Beast is a poignant 90-second showcase of vocal harmonies, and lyrical focus, which gives way to the intense, careening, industrial hip-hop beats of Beside Itself, complete with heady rap-style vocals. Mulholland's pure, vulnerable falsetto on Supermarket Blues and black-humoured Such a Shame You Must Die is an impressive contrast to the lower, knowing tones of Body Double or Mekong Delta, and more childlike verses of Blueprint. - New Zealand Herald

Known for composing award-winning film scores and fronting Auckland four-piece Motocade, the multi-talented Eden Mulholland releases his solo debut with more experience behind him than most. It shows. From the very first track Mulholland displays an almost nonchalant mastery of the pop art, toying with his impressive vocal range and testing the boundaries of composition. These songs are based around theatre and dance tracks, yet there’s simply not a dull moment to be found. From the dazzlingly euphoric choruses of the first and last songs, to the distinctive ’60s feel in Homework and a smart change of pace in Body Fight Time, this EP is stunningly crafted to make you sit up and listen. Self-recorded, it was mixed and mastered by Olly Harmer. Despite this release being under his name, all tracks have the backing of a full band, with subtle effects and excellent production adding to the experimental indie feel. - NZ Musician

A wee while back I happened upon, or was sent, the new single Shanty Town from ex Motocade front man Eden Mullholland and, I hate to sound so surprised, but I couldn’t quite believe my ears how great it was. There was a sense about it that somehow managed to feel both modest and underplayed as well as expansive and epic.

Now Eden has sent me the whole EP and I can confirm that this new feeling was not by pure chance – you don’t get five tracks in a row this good by accident – and at the risk of sounding a tad patronizing, it sounds to me that the man has finally found his voice with these songs.

Track Picks
Shanty Town – the single; electro tinged and artfully understated
Body Fight Time – Eden hits falsetto notes perfectly and, quite honestly, beautifully. Back-tracked vocal effects interpolate adding to the eerie goodness of this song
Shipwrecker – a truly massive tune. - Cheeseonetoast.co.nz

'Jesus Don't You Get My Jokes' is the first solo studio release from Melbourne-based Eden Mulholland, who also doubles as singer and guitarist for New Zealand band Motocade. I recently saw a live showcase from Mulholland and while I enjoyed what I heard there, I was happy to have the opportunity to sit down and listen properly to his music without distraction.

In just a 5-track EP, Mulholland has managed to cover a fairly vast musical landscape. The one constant that ties all the songs together is the use of various electronic sounds; yet, I wouldn't describe the EP as "electronic music".

Shanty Town kicks of the EP with a simple guitar riff, but it soon gives way to layers of drums, bongos, synthesisers, and Mulholland's soaring vocals. The title track follows, taking things in the opposite direction. It's a haunting song with little more than an acoustic guitar, some delicate chiming sounds, and almost spoken-word vocals; however, Jesus Don't You Get My Jokes still has just as much power as the opening track.

The following tracks have the same kind of diversity, yet the EP still sounds very cohesive. While some artists may try to attempt this sort of variety and end up with messy and confusing record, Mulholland find success is every genre he traverses. - TheDwarf.com.au

Lead singer of the popular band Motorcade Eden Mulholland, puts himself on the map with his most recent solo release Jesus Don’t You Get My Jokes. Coming from a less conventional musical past, Mulholland comes from a contempory dance and theatre background. “Here you will find music that has until now only existed as part of a live theatre performance – some of it was only played once….. So I guess its time for it to see the light of day.” His creations are utterly compelling, pushing the boundaries on conventional music standards. He’s a bit of a musical chameleon, with each song taking on it’s own flavor and character. With a sound similar to Radiohead or Cloud Control, Mulholland is hard to file under any genre. As he calls it, “experimental filmic mind bending orchestral weird pop.” This can be a bit too prominent in parts however, with songs not having a definite structure to them. But, with this solo release, Mulholland has a very strong future ahead of him.

4/5

LIAM AULICIEMS - Deerhead Press

This little collection from Motocade frontman Eden Mulholland is an exercise in sparseness and the love of precision in choosing the right arrangements.

Mulholland’s versatile voice is a lifeline through an understated, intimate wilderness as bare and eerie as Scandinavian winter. There are similarities to Motocade in the cloppy, percussive riffs, pads and samples, but there’s more space and it’s rawer and more challenging – and all the better for it.

Body Fight Time – sung in a fragile falsetto – is reminiscent of Losing Myself, the collaboration between Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and Ed Droste from Grizzly Bear, its peeled-open self-exploration almost uncomfortable to hear. Although the mid-section of the song feels like a misstep — the move into electric guitar territory from the bareness of acoustic and voice is an unexpected banality — this song remains a standout.

Closer Shipwrecker is a return to conventional songwriting, but it’s lifted from dullness by that falsetto again. In its cold ocean-themed grandeur, it feels like every instrument is playing to one another from corners of a great hall. Neo-masculinity, they call it — here’s hoping the trend sticks. - Offstreetpress

Whilst his name may not immediately ring a bell, Eden Mulholland hasn't just magically appeared out of nowhere. That is definitely not to say that his music has only just recently become noticeable. Rather that he has been on the scene of a more understated genre, as a composer for theatre and dance productions. Since 2000, Eden has created numerous scores for leading contemporary dance choreographers and won the “Best Music” award in 2008 and 2009 at the Tempo Festival (annual dance festival presented by The New Zealand Dance Festival Trust). Eden is also the front band for Motocade whose track "Holy Moly" may jog your memory.
His first solo studio EP, Jesus Don’t You Get My Jokes, is an instrumentally rich album. It reminds me a bit of Lisa Mitchel’s music - if she was to suddenly be struck by a bolt of melancholic lighting. "Body Fight Time" is undoubtedly my favourite track. Eden’s vocals display immense control and delicate tone that still resonates with strength and a solid sound - it’s enough to give you major goosebumps. The best part about the track is it’s unpredictable nature, just when you think you’re in for an Imogen Heap type song the guitar and drums kicks things up a few notches and you’ve entered the world of upbeat folk rock.
Other tracks such as "Shanty Town" and "Homework" contain poetic lyrics and mesmerising melodies. Clearly Eden has natural instinct and the experience required to create tracks that are layered without being too busy and poignant without being emotionally trite.
Review Score: 9.2 out of 10 - The AU Review

Shanty Town
rating: 4/5
I really like this tune and what a range voice wise you have eden. I hear you can dance too ! - man of many talents up his sleeve here
Rosie Beaton. Triple J - Triple J Unearthed

With layered, creative production that doesn’t lose its way, electronic programming, and mixing peat poetry with rhythmic loop trickery and melody, this album creates a world of sound and structure from Mulholland’s creative beast.
The album subverts pop expectation yet manages to feel cohesive. Taking from contemporary indie music, it gives an unexpected touch to riffs and arrangements, piano and a curiously detailed synthesiser appears against hypnotising drums and textured vocal.
The alt-pop poems Mulholland transposes contain vital components of a successful album with interesting and mature content, satisfying and resolved sound and tracks that intrigue. - Sydney Morning Herald

One might reasonably expect a soundtrack for dance performance to be dominated by rhythm elements, but this is not necessarily true of Eden Mulholland’s collection of comissioned works. There are sombre string sections, lonesome loser ditties and raw pop nuggets rounding out a decade worth of composition. The Motocade singer is a former dancer himself, so would have appreciation for the nuance of the choreographer’s art. A variety of instruments are pressed into service from harpsichord and marimba to bodhran and industrial scrapings. Refreshingly idiosyncratic, the music benefits from being framed by the theatre. Mulholland gets to exercise his experimental muscle without having to make any concession to radio playability or commercial appeal, though without the choreography one sometimes feels cut adrift from the context of the work. Nestled amongst the atmospheric sound collages (Scan Duet is a particularly poignant reverb drenched guitar sketch) are more or less straight sing songs: Cardboard Cutouts could almost be a lost Joy Division single, while Jumping Jack channels Leonard Cohen. The CD works as a standalone presentation and Mulholland proves himself a versatile and intriguing talent - NZ Musician

Eden Mulholland
Hunted Haunted
(Warner)
★★★★1/2
New Zealand is currently blessed with some great pop charmers who play by a different set of composityional rules. The sparkle of a Grayson Gilmour, Liam Finn or Joel and his brother Eden Mulholland is hidden in twisted melodies and innovative arrangments. On his second album, Hunted Haunted, Mulholland is again dynamically adventurous in a musically fuzzy logic way where he superby balances his emotions and vocal range on songs such River Of Hurt, The New Old Fashioned and Utopia in a follow me if you can kind of way. The title of the album Hunted Haunted might suggest a sense of self-doubt but musically it's too full of life and energy to be anything but celebratory. It's the audio equavalent to a Cirque de Soleil performance – intriguing, spectacular and full of wow moments.

Mike Alexander - Sunday Star Times