MUMMY - The Lead Of Saturn Is Gold To The Wise

For those who hailed the return of the Cardiacs as one of the musical events of 2025, the time for surprises isn't over yet. Released almost under the radar, the debut by MUMMY is further confirmation of the renewed creativity within the art-rock and neo-Canterbury scene.

“The Lead Of Saturn Is Gold To The Wise” is the first album by Jo Spratley (Cardiacs) and Bic Hayes (Levitation, Dark Star), already a couple in life and now in art too, for an experimental pop-rock project that's at times tricky to pin down.

MUMMY's music breaks down musical language and reshapes it along lines close to pop music, a mix of abstraction and surrealism that channels underground and punk impulses through sounds that are heavy yet shimmering, as if lifted from a Siouxsie And The Banshees record (the remarkable dark ballad “I Woosh”). Equally jagged psychedelic flows crown the catchiest track on offer, “They Who Knew”, without forgetting a touch of delightful kitsch pop nonsense (“Idiot Milk”).

What feels unusual and disorienting in MUMMY's music is the product of elaborate instrumental transmutations, where the punk and prog roots of Cardiacs resurface (“T L O S I G T T W”), alongside linguistic contaminations that bridge analogue and electronic music (“MUMMY”).

While anyone can make a record that's rule-defying and inscrutable, it's far harder to strike a perfect balance between audacity and recklessness — a risk that “The Lead Of Saturn Is Gold To The Wise” carefully sidesteps, thanks to the natural flair for the fourth art shown by the two minds behind this intriguing and original debut.

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01/03/2026