JUST MUSTARD

Light and euphoria – Just Mustard bring their new album to Budapest.

The Irish shoegaze/noise rock band released their third full-length album, WE WERE JUST HERE, last autumn. Just Mustard’s songs are built from industrial noise and dreamlike imagery, and while their previous releases leaned more towards darkness, the new album turns towards the light. We’ll soon get to experience exactly how much, as the band are bringing the WE WERE JUST HERE tour to Budapest: on July 6, we can immerse ourselves in their heavy haze at Turbina Cultural Center.

The term “pollyanna” refers to someone who is excessively cheerful or optimistic. The fact that this became the opening track and lead single of Just Mustard’s third album, WE WERE JUST HERE, signals a real turning point for the Dundalk five-piece. Across their first two records – 2018’s Wednesday and 2022’s Heart Under, released via Partisan Records – the Irish band became masters of haunting noise rock, while Katie Ball’s mesmerizing vocals swirled through the melodies like smoke.

Defined by swirling industrial noise and dreamlike textures, Heart Under explored themes of grief and longing through imagery of being trapped deep underwater, gasping for air. On the remarkable WE WERE JUST HERE, however, the band resurfaces, turning towards light and euphoria.

Across the album’s ten tracks, the band’s signature elements remain intact: guitars warped beyond recognition, twisted sound design recalling the world of Aphex Twin, and deep, rumbling bass frequencies. Guitarists David Noonan and Mete Kalyoncuoğlu continue to push their instruments into wild and nearly unrecognizable territories, while bassist Robert Hodgers Clarke and drummer Shane Maguire provide the foundation with crushing sub bass and clattering percussion. This time, however, everything is channeled into a warmer, more anthemic direction, opening up a whole new sonic dimension for the band. The album’s title track was also featured in The Woman in Cabin 10, starring Keira Knightley.

One of Ireland’s most exciting bands last performed in Budapest in 2023, and since then they have toured with acts such as The Cure, Depeche Mode and Fontaines D.C. Soon they will finally return to Hungary as well, performing at Turbina on July 6.

Tickets are already available via www.livenation.hu and www.funcode.hu.