Mezzamorphis - Content

Content

As with the previous album, King of Fools, Mezzamorphis is mostly midtempo; notable exceptions include "Bliss" and "Gravity". The new electronic direction taken by the band incorporated a theremin, played by bassist Jon Thatcher; additionally, Stu G used Revox tape delays to create keyboard-like guitar effects. Classical instruments were also included, including a Salvation Army brass band on "It's OK", an upright bass (also played by Thatcher) on "Kiss Your Feet", and a string quartet throughout the album.

While Mezzamorphis is not strictly a concept album, more than one professional reviewer has pointed out that there is a general theme of getting to heaven running through the whole work. The band have confirmed this, and have also pointed out a theme of change. "Heaven", inspired by the troubles in Northern Ireland, ties the two themes of heaven and change together; according to Smith, "we have to come to realize that we come from the dust, yet we believe one day we'll meet Jesus. In the meantime, we're caught between two worlds. Heaven is my home."

The first track, "Mezzanine Floor", is the change-oriented centrepiece of the album, written about the musical growth of the band. According to Stu G, "we feel that we're at a point where we've left where we were, but we're not yet where we believe we're going to end up. So, we're on the way, in the middle, on the mezzanine floor." "Metamorphis", written solely by Stu G, further explores this theme of change. The name of the album is a mixture of the names of these two tracks (see Metamorphosis and Mezzanine).

Another strong theme from the album is peer pressure, particularly due to the band's part-Christian-part-mainstream status. The song "Gravity" refers to the opposing influences of Heaven and the secular world pulling the band in opposite directions, whilst "Metamorphis" further explores "the fact that out in the world, although everybody wants to be their own selves, we're pulled this way and that. Everyone you meet wants you to be something or another. The song asks God to help us to be our own true selves, as God sees us, not the way folk pressure us to be what they want us to be." "Bliss" deals with accusations of selling out; in the words of Stu G, "we know exactly where we want to go, we want to take our music to the world and have it recognized as being as good as anything that's out there. But we're not going to compromise or back away from our integrity as Christians."