Tapir! takes us to a new world in debut album
The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain is a piece of modern mythology, taking the listener on a journey over land, sea, and space.
Crafted by six-piece London-based band “Tapir!”, the three part chamber-folk odyssey provides a surreal, escapist respite from the harsher realities of our world. This album was brought to me seemingly at random, appearing on my laptop screen after hours of listless searching for some album that was both interesting, and new to me.
Split into three distinct acts separated by spoken-word introductions, The Pilgrim exists as a unique musical experience in both sound and structure.
Across all three parts, many of the musical elements remain consistent. Rich soundscapes filled with plucky guitars, understated percussion, and lush harmonies, work together to create a deeply enjoyable world within which our story can take place. A world filled with religious imagery, unnamed beasts, and powerful eidolons.
The story of The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain is a simple one, following a little, beaked figure, the titular Pilgrim.
As Tapir!’s drummer, Wilf Cartright put it, “Well, there’s this little creature called The Pilgrim, and it’s in a different universe – but it’s kind of our universe as well, and it goes on a journey.”
The Pilgrim sets out from their comfortable grassy knoll, into the unknown land of “The Nether” surviving the harrowing beasts they find within the shadows, and continues trekking on towards some unknown salvation.
The journey begins of course, with the albums first track, Act 1 (The Pilgrim) a beautifully arranged multi-instrumental piece setting the tone for the musical palette to come with the short spoken-word section setting the story in motion.
From here the album begins to clearly display its influences, and nowhere are they’re more apparent than the albums second song, On A Grassy Knoll (We’ll Bow Together).
While many reviews of the album point out the clear influence bands like Black Country, New Road, or The Microphones have on Tapir!’s work, On A Grassy Knoll stands out to me as the bands take on a Destroyer song. Everything from the drum machine beat to the rakish vocals would feel perfectly at home on Kaputt, (think Blue Eyes, or, Chinatown)
While my personal favorite song may lie within the albums first two tracks, The Pilgrim provides high replay value and listening enjoyment from top to bottom. From the more traditional folk elements put on display in Eidolon, to the lamenting duet of Untitlds. And of course the seven minute opus of a closer, Mountain Song (which sounds straight off a Mount Eerie record), the album holds the listeners attention from the first note to the last.
For all its charm and personality, this album is not without its flaws. Outside of a few vocal performances I found less than ideal, my main issues arose with the story itself. The three act structure and conceptual nature of the album creates the sense that the listener should be able to dissect a substantive story from the poetic lyrics, and gorgeous world of sound they are presented with.
In reality however, the world Tapir! creates is high on style and fleeting in substance. Over my numerous listenings, I found myself disappointed as I tried to pry out some deeper story or message that just wasn’t there.
Maybe I was doing it all wrong though, maybe should I have been more like the Pilgrim and taken the album and the story within it as a journey itself, and not tried to find some concrete destination.
By allowing myself to lose track of permanence and some linear timeline of events, I was able to better appreciate the world of The Pilgrim for what it is, a beautifully constructed universe all its own, a universe worth being lost in, an album worth listening to.
Overall: 7.5/10
Does well: Sonically beautiful, at times incredibly strong songwriting, inventive concept
Does poorly: Doesn’t carry nearly as much substance as stye, rotating cast of singers created some strange moments
