Alison Eales is probably best known as a long-standing member of the Glasgow outfit Butcher Boy; she is also a member of Glasgow Madrigirls and has collaborated with bands including The Color Waves (USA), The Just Joans (Glasgow) and Featherfin (Norway). Mox Nox is her first solo outing, to be released on 24 March via Fika Recordings (https://shop.fikarecordings.com/album/mox-nox).
Taking inspiration from sundial mottos, Mox Nox is an album about the passing of time – most specifically, the transition from day to night. Its twelve songs explore experiences of all-nighters, anxiety, travel, frustration, and friendship. The record combines acoustic and electronic instrumentation with samples of environmental sound, resulting in a record that is by turns playful and melancholy and is likely to appeal to fans of Saint Etienne, The Magnetic Fields, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sterolab, Jake Thackray, Kirsty MacColl and others.
With support from Creative Scotland, the album was produced by Paul Savage at Chem 19 studios. Cover artwork was designed by Rhian Nicholas at The Passenger Press in Glasgow, using a mix of traditional printmaking techniques. The design represents a sundial and was inspired by the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, with its stylised Doomsday Clock.
Her first album single is Fifty-Five North, released tomorrow. The single has parallels with another album track titled Ever Forward, but while both are about struggling with the change of the seasons, this song is rooted firmly in Glasgow and expresses how a place can be both transformative and overwhelming. The song features samples from the Glasgow Subway, with a rhythm track made from the sounds of the train doors closing, and a melody made from the ping of the turnstiles.
The use of found sounds is both remarkable and quirky over which Eales’ uplifting vocals bring an enchanting vibrancy and colour. Fifty-Five North is also our Song of the Day.
Mox Nox is released on vinyl and digitally in March 2023 on Fika Recordings.
Live Dates
Fika Recordings present The Winter Sprinter 2023.
Saturday 17 January – The Lexington – with ballboy + The Just Joans (unplugged & unhappy)