Muriel

Muriel began as the recording project of songwriter Zak Thomas based in Cardiff, Wales. It incorporates classical guitar driven arrangements, layered vocals and introspective lyricism.

Over time Zak has been joined by a cast of friends and musicians Rachel Crabbe, Andy Oliveri, Jamie Joiner and Will Davies who have helped him realise his bedroom recordings as fully-formed songs and perform them live, where they take a life on their own as lush, emotive soundscapes packed with pathos.

MURIEL (led by songwriter Zak Thomas) are delighted to announce and reveal details of their self-titled debut album, Muriel, which will be released on 13th October 2023 via Venn Records (Gallows, Witch Fever, Bob Vylan).

The record is available to preorder now from: https://orcd.co/muriel

To celebrate the announcement, the band have revealed a video for new single ‘Lavender By The Frames’ which is out now on all good streaming platforms. The track is the third to be taken from the forthcoming album, following on from early singles ’Body of Light’ and ‘Seaside Painter’ which were released earlier this year to support from For The Rabbits, Noizze and more.

Commenting on the track, front man Zak Thomas says: “‘Lavender by the frames' is about having a creative drive that at times has to endure through finding a purpose, but this song celebrates letting go of that worry, instead indulging in the many forms creativity can take—relinquishing the struggle for definitions like 'work or hobby, art or practice' and settling into just doing to do.”

The single comes with a beautifully realised official video directed by Ren Faulks, who also directed the video for debut single ‘Seaside Painter’ and follow up ‘Body of Light’, and echoes the themes of creating and following intuition from the song itself.

“Nothing was really planned for this video besides going to the local park and filming nature to make a backdrop to the song,” explains Thomas, “but we ended up piling rocks and digging sand and I had these ceramic birds that made a feature—it was a really fun time being weird.”

On Muriel’s forthcoming debut album, Thomas explores themes including the stages of grief and his own spirituality. Written at home in his bedroom and recorded in his beautiful boutique tattoo shop, Still Hands, in Cardiff, the creative process behind the music mirrors the experimental drive that led the project. 

Featuring production contributions from Tom Bromley (LosCampesinos!), the record was also mastered by Kliph Schurlock (ex drummer of The Flaming Lips), both fellow Cardiff residents.

With their first live dates only just under their belts, the full live band have already been booked to play Welsh tastemaker festival Swn Fest later this year, landed a support slot with LA indie folk band Runnner, and will be performing their first full band headline show at Shift, Cardiff on 23rd September 2023.