High Hopes LP by The Mole
High Hopes is 17 songs across 40 minutes on one slice of wax that, as advertised, sounds nothing like last month's EP, High Dreams.
Here, rather than the long form dance form, is a continuation of the beat tape pacing from the last album, a collection of moments posing as ideas posing as a narrative stuffed with oddities and surprises that reward the close listen.
What's heard on High Hopes is the Mole's exploration of a love letter, from one person to a family, from the northern Pacific to the southern Atlantic, from a boy to a painted bird. Vancouver Island to Manantiales. The songs range from ambient sound bath and hip hop sludge up to micro boogie and almost House before tumbling back down and forth again. Bubbling synths, MPCs swung out, samples chopped and chewed, bass and violins from Rick and Sophie, field recordings of birds and frogs and beaches, friends and family, and fiestas.
Did we mention the love ?! This album has got it all! Original collages from Antonio Carrau envelope this wax: jacket, sleeve, and cookie. Antonio's work is typified by playful combinations and bold statements about living in an embrace of analog and digital health. His collages marry the corporeal world with an updated, digitalized age of reproduction, inducing feelings of gratitude for the simple everyday scenes we sometimes lose touch with when we forget to slow down. Good living, like breathing, requires inhaling as well as exhaling. We can't always produce content or make art; we must also pause and listen. And enjoy.
Friends and colleagues join the Mole on several songs, including High Hopes. Rick May plays bass on both Que Rico and the album GoinF4er. Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You Black Emperor) plays and arranges violins on GoinF4er, and Danuel Tate (Cobblestone Jazz), and Julz Chaz (Wagon Repair) both play Vibes and Emaxx throughout the album. Working with these incredible talents not only enriched this album but also fulfilled a long-standing goal of the Moles: to work again with the musicians from whom he learned so much. These were people who helped inform the shape of the Mole to come - the Mole who was As High As The Sky.
The Mole has been "recognized" by the "global underground" since his critically celebrated premiere album, As High As The Sky, but his earlier Eps (Wagon Repair, Philpot, Musique Risquee) got the attention of Top DJs, clubs, and festivals around the world first. His sound remains unique, fresh and deep: enjoying plays in a wide variety of spaces and places.
High Hopes is Mole's 5th solo album and his 2nd album for Circus Company (The River Widens), which has also proudly released two eps of Mole magic (Little Sunshine, High Dreams).
The Mole - High Hopes LP
Release Date 22nd November 2024
Label Circus Company
Tracklist
1. The Mole - Sing a Storm
2. The Mole - Que Rico
3. The Mole - Heart of a Canary
4. The Mole - Deeper Filth
5. The Mole - Just Another Kid
6. The Mole - Arp on a Table
7. The Mole - Boulevard
8. The Mole - Vessel Plans
9. The Mole - JP Ate Culture
10. The Mole - Mountain Range
11. The Mole - nEw fAme
12. The Mole - That Old Fuck
13. The Mole - Burger Time
14. The Mole - Umpah Band
15. The Mole - Don't Wake Me Up Bro
16. The Mole - Not Lost
17. The Mole - GoinF4er