‘Les Mystosis’ by BIGGER

Formed of five musicians and fronted by Irish singer Kevin Twomey, BIGGER are known for a sixties-style reminiscent of the sounds from the Cavern Quarters of Liverpool. The band’s makeup is as mixed as their influences, with one band-member from Marseille, the other from Paris, two from the Jura mountains, and the other – in their words – “a lost bewildered Irishman from Dublin that somehow managed to bump into them in the middle of nowhere in the east of France”. After forming in 2016 the band started recording and touring in the same year, since releasing two EPs and playing numerous venues and festivals across Europe, including Les Eurockéennes de Belfort, Les Transmusicales, and Le Bataclan in Paris.

BIGGER’s debut album ‘Les Mystosis’ sees the quintet produce a familiar dark rock sound, coloured by orchestral strings and 60s treble guitar tones – whilst using unique instruments like harpsichord, vox organs, fuzzed out vintage guitars, and psychedelic drum patterns. The result: an album that explores the group’s “weird freaky world” through tight musicianship and sharp production by Jim Spencer – a talent who has previously worked with the likes of New Order, Liam Gallagher and Johnny Marr. The five describe how “working with Jim was a real pleasure, he brought us all his experience, his personal touch, always in subtlety and in perfect harmony with our music”. 

Recorded during lockdown at Castle Studios in Dresden and Hope Mill Studios in Manchester, the band have discussed the “powerful experience” of the album’s creative process. They outline the logistical barriers of “travel restrictions, lockdowns, quarantines, etc.” but insist that rather than slowing them down, “it gave us more strength and desire, we felt like we were doing something special”. Imagining their album as “a temple, a strange, abundant, baroque space”, the group are ready to play the tracks on stage and hit the road: and we’re ready to hear them.