The title track is a distillation of all that is good about this mini-album. The lyrics aren't thrown out too quickly, instead letting the music itself take a scamper for a while. The Mummers seem to be following in the footsteps of Bjork and Frank Zappa by taking interesting instrument choices and actually making them sound interesting.
The Secret
There is a more commercial slant to their music. Whereas Zappa would often create inch-perfect representations of popular culture, they would be drenched in sarcasm and distance. The Mummers revel in the grandeur of musicals and big bands, and this joy is key to the excitement in their music, as evidenced in 'Lorca the Orange Tree' or 'The Secret', with its Disney-esque and somewhat unexpected horn section.
From the opening of the first track, 'Wonderland', it is clear that this is not going to be an album to stick to the obvious. It storms out of the blocks with a sound best described as early Goldfrapp taking a ride on a carousel with a Danny Elfman orchestra in tow. When the vocals drift in, they again add another layer to the piece, an enchanting almost naive little voice which adds to the fairy-tale-like ambience of the record itself.
March of the Dawn
The lead single, 'March of the Dawn', is the perfect opening statement for the band. Already a favourite of Steve Lamacq's BBC 6Music show, the track is all at once triumphant, bombastic, fragile, eccentric, and really, truly, lovely. It's happy enough to suggest a summery track, but at the same time it also has a magical winter vibe, conjuring the images of colourful and hazy Christmases past.
The cover depicts the lead singer in the woods, and the record does achieve the sense of the magical outdoors from fairy tales and 60s folk music. What is created as a whole could probably only have been otherwise achieved by The Mighty Boosh and Jim Henson spending a week with The Incredible String Band and then collaborating on a musical together. It is whimsical to an extent, but it never pushes too far in to any sense of unbelievability. In fact Tale To Tell Pt. 1 suggests that this is only the first step in to the forest of the Mummers, with no need to leave a trail of sweets behind.
