Harper stream new EP Mono No Aware

Photography by Luke Weall

ALT-rock four-piece Harper are streaming their new EP Mono No Aware ahead of its release.

The London/Essex outfit recorded the EP earlier this year at Shelter Studio in Dalston and was produced by Dominic Rippel.

Matt from the band gave RealSoundsOK a track-by-track run down of Mono No Aware, as follows...

Cast in Stone - This song came together pretty organically, and when we were discussing the tracks we wanted to record, we knew we had to have this in there, and it had to be the opening track. 

Eastern Road Dance - The oldest song on there, but also one of our favourites. We tried experimenting with different textures and vocal harmonies. Our producer was great when it came to this, he really encouraged a lot of experimentation that has ended up on the E.P. Even though it's probably the oldest song we play live now, the outcome of its recording has breathed a new life into it. A good driving song, or so the boys in the band that can drive tell me.

Bringing Me Down - This song is again, a lot of fun to play. Unlike the first two tracks, which are us kind of presenting a new world of ours, Bringing Me Down is a bit more straight forward. We wanted to incorporate some classic song structures but give those structures our own feel, keeping it heavy, but a bit more danc-ey perhaps.

Ligature - Probably our most far out song, and definitely one that shows what we're about in the studio. It's a difficult one to pull off live. But that's not to say it lacks anything, if anything we knew we wanted this to end the E.P, and show our progression throughout the 15 minutes that make up Mono No Aware. When Jam was recording his bass part, we knew we were onto something. It's a real show-piece of the rhythm section in the band.

You can listen to the EP below or at soundcloud.com/HarperBandUK and for more on Harper, check out the Q&A they did with RealSoundsOK back in January by clicking here.