''Mt. Desolation'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

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duo

Mt. Desolation Mt. Desolation are an English band formed by Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin, members of the rock band Keane (band), Keane, as a side-project. Their Mt. Desolation (album), self-titled debut album was released on 18 October 2010. The live band co ...

, released on 18 October 2010 in the United Kingdom and on 19 October 2010 in the US. This is the first album by the side project of the band Keane's

Tim Rice-Oxley Timothy James Rice-Oxley (born 2 June 1976) is an English musician, best known for being the keyboardist, singer and songwriter of the pop rock band Keane. In 2010, he formed a side-project, Mt. Desolation, with his Keane bandmate Jesse Quin. ...

and

Jesse Quin Jesse Joseph Quin (born 3 September 1981) is an English multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer best known as the bass player of the British pop rock band Keane. Jesse also founded and runs an arts centre on an abandoned U.S. Air ...

Track listing

* All tracks written by

and

Bonus songs

Most pressings of the CD only include 11 songs ("Halo of Fireflies", hidden after "Coming Home", is not listed on the back), however some extra songs have been released, either on special pressings of the CD, or digitally. * The

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version of the album includes 2 bonus tracks, "Emily" and the demo for "Bitter Pill". * The

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version has "Wherever You Were Going" listed as track 11. * The

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version has "Coming Home" and "Halo of Fireflies" listed as two separate tracks, and includes "Pushed Around" as track 12. * The song "Your Kind of Life" is part of the live setlist of most Mt. Desolation gigs, but has not been officially released.

Reception

The album was met with generally favourable reviews, with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' thinking of it, when compared to Keane's '' Night Train'', as a "more convincing vehicle for their undisputed melodic gifts" and citing "Bitter Pill" as a highlight.

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called the production "fittingly delicate and unfussy, with no oppressive effects" and commented on the singer's voices, saying "Rice-Oxley and Quin ..both sound a little shy", but welcoming the "intermittent, effortlessly harmonising female vocals". Virgin.com, however, wasn't as enthusiastic, giving the album a 6 out of 10, describing their self-titled debut as "a mixed bag of charming country inspired tunes and hard to take seriously line dancing tracks", before adding that "the self gratifying love for the music that has been created makes this collaborative country collection well worth a listen despite the odd rogue."

Personnel

Mt Desolation: *

- vocals, piano, synths, composition *

- vocals, lead guitar, composition Support musicians: *Fimbo – drums * Jessica Staveley-Taylor – backing vocals, acoustic guitar, piano *John-William Scott – bass, guitar *Phil Renna – fiddle, keyboards Guest artists: *

Ronnie Vannucci Ronald Vannucci Jr. (born February 15, 1976) is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for the rock band the Killers. Vannucci is also involved in a side project called Big Talk, and became the drummer of the Rentals in 2018. ...

- drums, guitars, vibes * "Country" Winston Marshall - banjo *Charity Quin - backing vocals *Jayne Rice-Oxley - backing vocals *Francois Deville - pedal steel *Andrew Lowe – bass * John Roderick – backing vocals, guitar *Pete Roe – keyboards, backing vocals *Tom Hobden – fiddle

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Desolation (album) 2010 debut albums Mt. Desolation albums Keane (band) Island Records albums Cherrytree Records albums