The South London six-piece – Ike Gray (vocals/guitar), Will McCrossan (keys/drum machine), Tom Rogers-Coltman (guitar/saxophone), Ronnie Longfellow (bass), Emily Hubbard (cornet/synth) and Wilf Cartwright (drums/cello) – describe Tapir! as a ‘boiling together’ of different mediums: at once musical, theatrical, mythological, artistic, collaborative, narrative-led and, above all, something to be enjoyed and shared. The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain, their first album, follows a three-act structure – released by Heavenly Recordings as three four-track EPs (Acts I and II in 2023, Act III early 2024) – telling the story of a solitary traveller, an ambiguous red creature known as The Pilgrim, on a journey across a mythical landscape. Prior to the pandemic, Gray and McCrossan had been putting on ultra-inclusive, ultra-informal poetry nights, creating comical videos and promoting gigs as part of the Brixton art collective My Life is Big. The platform had likewise motivated the pair to form Tapir! in 2019. Having brought Rogers-Coltman and Longfellow on-board during the pandemic (Hubbard and Cartwright would join later, in the summer of 2022), Tapir! released their debut single My God in February 2022. When Honeyglaze drummer Yuri Shibuichi saw Tapir! live at the venue, he encouraged them to record their songs, and the band stress it was his enthusiasm that led them to take the project more seriously. Shibuichi’s playful, carefree production (always urging the band not to overthink) perfectly suits Tapir!’s unassuming, handmade, DIY nature.

What they (Ike) say: “Written during lockdown, ‘My God’ intends to promote persistence to carry on even when the world feels rotten. Whilst it highlights issues in the world such as commercialism, natural & man-made disasters it isn’t intended to be a criticism of religion but more so an open conversation about faith – whatever that may be for an individual. At the end of the day, we all have something we believe in to help us push through. The track is also accompanied by a beautiful mixed-media video directed by Los Angeles based artist collective ‘Everything Is Terrible’’ which visually tells the tale behind the song with a mixture of found footage and playful Claymation.“

“The music video takes the fictional narrative of the pilgrim and places it in the real world. From traversing grassy knolls and ploughing through the nether, the protagonist stumbles into a working film set on the beach. Here, they become part of a reenactment of Act Two’s story, undergoing a symbolic baptism surrounded by Pyrrhic dancers and receiving the sacrament from a femme Jesus. The video will be part of the album’s companion film, which will capture the full journey of the pilgrim.”

Their Mixtape: “Ciao TRISTE© We are Tapir!, a 6 piece band from London. We’ve recently put out our second EP, Act 2 (Their God) via Heavenly recordings which continues the story of the Pilgrim as they travel through a fictional universe of green hills, choppy seas and red creatures. Our album comes out Jan 26th, completing the full project.
Our mixtape is made up of a mixture of songs we all individually like and some of the songs we’ve been listening to on the road.“

Ronnie’s pick:

Dandy Livingstone – A Woman’s Love

When I think of mixtapes I think about the ones my friends/family would quickly make for each other as last-minute Christmas/Birthday/Father’s Day presents. We had forgotten or couldn’t be bothered to buy an actual present but still wanted to give something personal and meaningful like a mixtape. This song wasn’t actually on one of the mixtapes I received… but it reminds me of them!

Will’s pick:

Judee Sill – Jesus Was A Cross Maker

Every time I sit down at the piano and I try to write a song, I am trying to write this song. I don’t know how it’s possible for a song to be so catchy, heartbreaking, profound, and uplifting all at the same time. There is even an 8 bar string quartet section which only adds to the pain and beauty of the song.

Tom’s pick:

The Killers – When You Were Young

A childhood car cd. The cd case had curved corners and it sounded best heading home after a Steam fair in Market Harborough on a Sunday and waking up with coin mouth after snaffling a bag of chocolate buttons in the back of the car.

Ikes’ pick:

Lucio Dalla – Siamo Dei

Bought this record from Naples for my friend Brom who introduced me to Lucio Dalla. Although I got smacked in the face by a local, Naples still remains as one of my favourite cities x

Wilf’s pick:

Cap’n Jazz – Basil’s Kite

When I was a very sad teenager I could count on this album and particularly this song to give me the energy to bounce off the walls of my bedroom. Tim Kinsella’s lyrics are abstract but so profound and full of unadulterated joy and wonder, and the music is so frenetic and fast and chaotic. It’s barely holding it together, but thank God it does, so that I could!

Em’s pick:

Virginia Astley – Some Small Hope

For a brief moment when I initially found this song, when I was about 15, it’s all I could listen to. Now I find that it flits about in my brain; I forget about it, it disappears for a while, then appears exactly when I need it to. It has longevity in my life and an ability to provide a distinct level of comfort and familiarity with every listen, just as it did the first time. It is such a beautiful duet, bittersweet but resolute and accepting. I’m sure it is a song that will stay with me forever. Also wins the award for best harmony ever in the last like 40 seconds of the song.

Whole band’s picks:

Jorg Kuning – Ex-Tensor

Strongly associate this tune with Tom playing squelchy Mancunian bangers in the Fiat Panda on the southbound M1 to London back from Salford or Birkenhead at 1am running on Pro Plus and straight tuneage.

Frank Sinatra Jr. – Black Night

Prepare for the fattest shaken-not-stirred, cosmopolitan, broadway, showbiz, french-horns-plummeting-from-the-stratosphere, big-badonkadonk-in-a-tux DROP after the longest and most overwhelming build-up since the Empire State Building.
“Martini on rocks?”
No thanks, Will… I’m driving.

The Album: ‘From atop a green hill, The Pilgrim did hear a call from the distance. Their people are near. Towards the tall mound The Pilgrim must set, carrying only this sack, into the Nether…’ And so begins Act I of Tapir!’s debut album, The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain, a multiform record that owes as much to folk art and folklore as it does to alt-folk experimentation, follows a three-act structure – released by Heavenly Recordings as three four-track EPs (Acts I and II in 2023, Act III early 2024) – telling the story of a solitary traveller, an ambiguous red creature known as The Pilgrim, on a journey across a mythical landscape. Each of the three acts opens with Little Wings’ Kyle Field – another influence turned collaborator – narrating a few lines of The Pilgrim’s story in his warm Californian burr over field recordings and atmospheric instrumental passages. Over the course of the LP’s forty-five minutes, melodic motifs reappear like a trail of twinkling breadcrumbs, while lyrically the simple tale – essentially ‘just a journey up to the top of a hill,’ albeit with a death, a storm and shipwreck along the way – centres on themes of ideology, idolatry, and what Gray calls ‘the fine line between belief and conspiracy.’

The tracklist:

1.   Act I (The Pilgrim)
2.   On A Grassy Knoll (We’ll Bow Together)
3.   Swallow
4.   The Nether (Face To Face)
5.   Act II (Their God)
6.   Broken Ark
7.   Gymnopedie
8.   Eidolon
9.   Act III (The King of My Decrepit Mountain)
10. Untitled
11. My God
12. Mountain Song

The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain will be out on January 26, 2024 via Heavenly Recordings. Look HERE for more information on Tapir!.