"It's an exciting time for the Monsters," exclaims frontman and mandocello player Kieran Szifris. "After the success of our first experiment with electronics on Mechanical Monster we're delighted to be able to make a new album. We are calling it Charge because the album has the kind of electrical charge we produce in our live performances. It's full of possibility and we feel it represents what we're about - moving forward with our experimentation in ceilidh music."
The Mechanical Monster album was released in 2011 and featured two discs, one of acoustic tunes and the other of electronic beats and programming.
"We're having a lot of fun experimenting with form, sounds, tunes," says bassist David de la Haye. ''The ceilidh format is so versatile and on Charge we've continued to try and see how far we can push it. There are different types of tunes clashing with swung Drum 'n' Bass, acid trance and dubstep. We were also blown away by the amazing vocal talent of Geordie singer Hannah Rickard so we got her in to lay some vocals down on a few things."
"It's important to us that we can go to a festival and either do a great ceilidh or a great electronic show," claims drummer/ DJ Joseph Truswell. "At folk festivals we tend to do both types of show - but it's the folk audiences who really know their dances."