Paul Mosley and The Red Meat Orchestra are responsible for one of my favourite tracks I’ve ever heard through running this blog so an upcoming new album was a must listen for me.
By Graeme Smith
It was in October 2019 that I discovered the act for York Calling through the provocatively titled and compositionally rich single People Are Idiots. It was a song that truly broke the mould and established Paul Mosley as an artist to keep an eye on for me.
Nearly seven years have since passed in a blink of an eye and he and his Red Meat Orchestra are back on these pages with a new album called Monkey Hanger.
Those familiar with British history won’t be surprised to learn that Mosley is from Hartlepool. The Northeastern town is most famous for hanging a monkey accused of being a French spy during the Napoleonic Wars. The place has embraced this identity, and so to does Mosley lean into it with his album title.
The local connection goes well beyond the album’s name. It feels like a living breathing testament to the seaside town and Mosley’s upbringing there. Tracks like the funky and playful Revenge of the Hartlepool Monkey does this more broadly while some are more self-reflective, such as the dark, brassed-touched highlight 1989.
Mosley embraces a warm, soulful sound throughout. At times it feels best placed in the 1970s but there are also Sting-like echoes from the ‘80s and ‘90s, especially in Elephant Bones. One influence is made overt through the wonderfully titled What Would Harry Nillsen Say?
What really excited me about People Are Idiots was how much Mosley packed into the song. Monkey Hanger continues this trend. The album is a dense listen; there’s far too much in it to unpack in a short review.
And so much could be said about Mosley himself and Monkey Hanger – his fifth album with the Red Meat Orchestra – is a deeply personal record. He grew up gay in the northeast in the 1980s, a sometimes-isolating experience which he is able to bring to life through humour.
“The album is based around one dark night in 1989,” says Mosley. “I’m alone on the beach trying to work out who I am… or escape from it. So, the songs are me, now, speaking to me then. I wanted it to be funny as that’s such a big part of the Hartlepool personality, but I also wanted to tell that kid’s story properly. I was surprised how much I remembered, how much I wished I could tell him that it would all, eventually, be OK.”
If you want to keep up to date with all Paul Mosley is doing, you can by following him on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
Monkey Hanger is out now 31 July 2026.
