As part of the promotion of their second album Gigi's Recovery which currently sits in the top 10 midweek album charts, The Murder Capital popped into Piccadilly Records in Manchester as part of a whistlestop series of acoustic sets and signings to promote the record.
Despite the "ungodly hour", as James describes the 1pm afternoon slot, Piccadilly Records is already busy an hour before the band play as the band's popularity seems to be showing signs of significant growth on the back of universal acclaim for Gigi's Recovery. It's a stripped down set by the band due to the noise restrictions that hamper Piccadilly Records putting on full instores as they're sat in a residential building, but it gives the band the opportunity to paint five tracks from Gigi's Recovery and an old favourite a different perspective.
With just Damien and Cathal on guitars and a tambourine to hand and zero amplification, it's James voice that comes to the fore, powerful enough to be heard, although there's zero noise coming from a crowd that's gripped by the raw intensity of the performance, yet fragile and vulnerable enough behind his shades for these songs to really get under the skin, even in a bright shop environment on a cold Tuesday lunchtime.
Whereas a stripped down unamplified performance of most of their debut When I Have Fears would be unthinkable, Gigi's Recovery feels perfect for it. Whether it be the first three songs played - Ethel, Only Good Things and A Thousand Lives that have emotional recovery, emerging from the darkest depths that ran through their debut as its central theme - or the final two Crying and The Stars Will Leave Their Stage which feel like the coming to terms with the situation part of the same journey, the brightly-lit sparsity of these versions makes them even more acutely felt. Don't Cling To Life has a few singing along, quietly mind not to drown out the tense taut guitars that propel it forwards.
The band then take a couple of hours signing records, chatting and taking photos. Gabe and Diarmuid are there too, Gabe having filmed most of the set for their socials.
The Murder Capital played Ethel, Only Good Things, A Thousand Lives, Don't Cling To Life, Crying and The Stars Will Leave Their Stage.
The Murder Capital's official site can be found here and they are on Facebook and Twitter.
To support the album release they have a series of in-store and out-store performances at Kingston Pryzm (January 21), Southampton Vinilo (22, 12pm), Brighton Resident Records (22, 6.30pm), London Rough Trade East (23), Manchester Piccadilly Records (24, 1pm), Leeds Crash Records (24, 5pm) and Nottingham Rough Trade (25)
They tour in February at Antwerp Trix Club (February 4), Cologne Luxor (5), Hamburg Molotow (6), Berlin Lido (8), Munich Hansa 39 (9), Strasbourg La Laiterie (11), Paris Le Trabendo (13), Amsterdam Paradiso (14), Manchester Albert Hall (16), Glasgow SWG3 (18), Leeds Stylus (20), Birmingham The Mill (21), London O2 Kentish Town Forum (23), Bristol The Marble Factory (24) and Dublin Vicar Street (26) before heading to the US and Canada in March and April.
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