The Full Story

About Thou Hast But One Hour to Live

THOU HAST BUT ONE HOUR TO LIVE is Madadkin’s tenth album, the title coming from a line from Cristopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’. A title that evokes so much of Madadkin’s work: the theme that we have already sold our souls to the evil side of ourselves in our pillage of the world in order to satisfy our own material wants and superficial needs. The theme of death, as such is there, but despite the dark and far too serious thematic side this album is, typically Madadkin, full of fun and humour in the musical and theatrical production of the whole.
Through his ironical approach and politically concerned themes, Madadkin continues to push boundaries and challenge listeners with his unique sound and insightful lyrics. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Adkin’s background is primarily a theatrical one and this, as are all Madadkin’s albums, is fundamentally theatrical.
So, while the album's title, evokes a sense of urgency and existential reflection it is also a nod to the artist’s signature wit. Madadkin explores themes of mortality, societal issues, and the irony of modern life, encouraging listeners to embrace the moment while questioning the status quo. Although Madadkin is concentrating less on the avant garde in his approach as that area is now being explored by his second alias Sherwin, Madadkin fans can expect a rich tapestry of sound that showcases Madadkin's innovative approach, with tracks that range from playful and upbeat to introspective and poignant.

Comedy:
Why Do You Think That the Earth is Flat?, Fell Asleep in the Chair, & Thou Hast But One Hour to Live

This album has a very strong comic element. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT? looks at the phenomenon of the Flat-Earthers, using audio collage techniques to intersperse real flat-earthers to the song. A narative which exalts our fairy-tale culture but remains perplexed by the Flat Earth idea.
FELL ASLEEP IN THE CHAIR is a piece of pure silliness: confessions of the one who always gets too drunk and ends up asleep in an armchair at parties. It appears here in a long and a short version. The short version was originally designed to work as a single, until Madadkin thought: "Why do we need a single?" This song is perfectly danceable, ideal for anyone drunk enough to try. The title track THOU HAST BUT ONE HOUR TO LIVE is, despite the dark theme of death, another comic theme. It begins with dark dramatic music, but this introduction is a continuation of the track WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE? from the NUMBER NINE album, which is a coffee shop scene, with someone asking for a cup of coffee. What the customer does not know is that the coffee will be his last, and this death is narrated by a God-like voice in the song itself. Yes, comic ... if you don't believe me have a listen.

Blues:
Van Gogh Skies,

VAN GOGH SKIES is a blues about an encounter with an angel in Amsterdam.

Bright and Bubbly Pop:
Vanquish The Greed, & Adapting

VANQUISH THE GREED is a bright, lively pop song, with mainly female vocals, silly transitions, harmonies and everything you can want and expect from a pop song. But yes, it's talking about the need to vanquish our desires for superficial consumerism. ADAPTING starts bright but develops into a punk-style chorus but before exploding into an anthem-large finale. The song is about the absurdity of trying to adapt to the climate emergency rather than trying to curb its eventuality.

Avant garde and Experimental:
L'écrivain est Sourcier, E= mc2, & Money

L'ÉCRIVAIN EST SOURCIER is in the collage form with vocal chops of Jacques Deleuze. E=MC2 has a slow sad baroque bass theme with chops of Albert Einstein connecting his theory of relativity to the atomic bomb. MONEY is mainly a rock guitar jam, with bass, drums and we've brought back the banjo for this one, with a vocal rhythm of the word 'money' repeated over and over, chops of a economist telling us what money is and a tortured vocal that could have been a normal song but turned out in this 'Madadkin' form instead.