''All Creatures Will Make Merry'' is the second studio album by

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band

Meursault Meursault () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department and region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Etymology The oldest attested form of the toponym Meursault dates from 1094, as ''Murassalt'' and ''Mussalt'', in a charter by t ...

, released on 24 May 2010. A limited edition, hand-printed version of the album was released in April 2010. Songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Neil Pennycook states that "the main theme of the record is one of contentment – what people are willing to do to obtain it, hold on to it, and what we stand to lose or gain if we try."

Background and recording

Following the critical acclaim of the band's debut album, '' Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues'', a newly extended version of Meursault recorded ''All Creatures Will Make Merry'' in the winter of 2009, in

Stockbridge, Edinburgh Stockbridge is a suburb of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots ''stock brig'' from Anglic ''stocc brycg'', meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, ...

. Songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Neil Pennycook states that "playing with a full live band helped shape this record considerably," and praised the contributions of both Phillip Quirie and Pete Harvey: "

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opened up a huge range of possibilities with these songs." Pennycook states that his production was influenced by

The Microphones The Microphones are an American indie folk, indie rock, and experimental project from Olympia, Washington. The project was founded in 1996 and ended in 2003, with a short reunion following in 2007 and revivals in 2019 and 2020. Across every i ...

and

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. The names of the album and its titular third track come from the 1980 film adaptation of

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; as the tyrannical Ming the Merciless prepares to forcefully wed Earthling woman Dale, a ship flies over his ceremony bearing the banner, "All creatures will make merry," and shortly afterward is followed by another that reads, "Under pain of death." Pennycook chose the phrase because he felt it fit with the album's themes of "the pursuit of happiness and how it's the one thing that ultimately everyone has in common."

Content

According to songwriter Neil Pennycook, "the themes and motivation behind ''All Creatures Will Make Merry'' come from completely different place than those on ''Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues''. I feel a certain duty to myself in terms of my own expectations for this album, other than that I couldn't imagine making an album to someone else's supposed criteria, that is my idea of hell."

Track listing

''All songs written by Neil Pennycook, performed by Meursault''.

Personnel

Meursault

*Chris Bryant *Fraser Calder *Peter Harvey *Calum MacLeod *Neil Pennycook *Philip Quirie *Gavin Tarling

Production and design

*Neil Pennycook - recording *Brothers Grimm - artwork

References

External links

Meursault on MySpace

Song, by Toad Records
{{Authority control 2010 albums Meursault (band) albums