Originally released between 1981-85 as the follow up to the Commercial Album (available on Mute as a deluxe edition), The Mole Trilogy sees the band take a closer look at civilisation, telling an epic story connecting several generations of the fictitious race of the hardworking underground Mohelmot people (the Moles) and the superficial Chubs. Alternating between the two cultures, the band use a form of lyrical storytelling to follow these two races to their inevitable ideological clash and using pseudo documentary "music", the band show us the musicology of the two cultures, first separate and then evolving as the societies begin to merge.

The first part of the trilogy, Mark Of The Mole, sees The Residents at their most electronic. Beginning with a pseudo radio broadcast (featuring a weather man, played by Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, warning of large storms heading for the Pit Area) we are first introduced to the Moles and their ethnic make up with Won't You Keep Us Working, a prayer to the God of Darkness for nothing more than the privilege of being allowed to continue their labour. The prayer is answered by a ferocious and devastating storm, forcing the subterranean Moles to leave their home and travel in search of a new life.

Out in The Coast and with the second part of the trilogy (The Tunes of Two Cities) the story moves forward when word reaches the Chubs of the impending arrival of hundreds and thousands of refugees. The superficial, but not stupid residents of Chubville are anxious about this influx of migrants but their fears are allayed as they realise they can use the hardworking Moles as cheap labour.

We follow civilisation as told by these two races through a kind of industrial revolution and into a new era where the Moles are forbidden to use their ancient language in public but where a new species, the Cross (a marriage of the Moles and the Chubs) now exist. In this final section of the tale, presented as a cultural artefact of the time, we are introduced to a pop ground called The Big Bubble (its members are Cross species) who use this forbidden language in song.

And as for the confusing fourth CD contained on The Mole Trilogy? The Residents took The Mole Show on tour in the 90s and onstage, the focus was a narrator (The Residents themselves appeared as shadowy background figures) and the CD Intermission comprises pre-show, intermission and post-show music from the production.

Since its original release, there has been much debating and probing into The Residents' telling of the story of the Mohelmot and the Chubs and along the way theories abound, some linking the tale to a particularly tough time for the band, some writing the whole story off as out and out fantasy. One thing is certain, The Mole Trilogy is a collection of some of the most extraordinary music and its reach has been huge. Elements of the live show together with visual documents related to these releases are permanently exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in NY where The Residents are credited as the inventors of modern performance and this release, part of Mute's ongoing exploration of the band, shows The Residents taking on one of their most ambitious projects to date.

Mute's deluxe release of The Mole Trilogy comprises two special edition hardback double CDs, each with a 32-page booklet containing brand new liner notes and unseen photographs. Package one houses the CDs Mark of the Mole and Intermission while package two contains The Tunes of Two Cities and The Big Bubble.

Producer:  The Cryptic Corporation