The incomparable Baltimore duo Beach House release their spellbinding 8th LP today. Once Twice Melody features 18 tracks, and has been presented in 4 chapters with lyric animations for each song.
Once Twice Melody, the first album produced entirely by Beach House, was recorded at Pachyderm studio in Cannon Falls, MN, United Studio in Los Angeles, CA, and Apple Orchard Studios in Baltimore, MD. For the first time, a live string ensemble was used, with arrangements by David Campbell. Once Twice Melody was mostly mixed by Alan Moulder but a few tracks were also mixed by Caesar Edmunds, Trevor Spencer, and Dave Fridmann.
Destroyer continue the lead-up to their new album, LABYRINTHITIS, out 25th March via Bella Union, with a new single, “Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread.” The new track follows lead single “Tintoretto, It’s For You”. Additionally, Destroyer have announced an extensive run of UK and European shows throughout the Summer and Autumn including a performance at London’s EartH in October, the dates of which can be found further down.
Restless and slightly irreverent, “Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread” gallops along, fuelled by Joshua Wells’ percussion and John Collins’ drum programming. “Been meaning to wear my hair like this for ages … I mean down, down, all the way down,” Bejar coos, his anticipation bolstered by the driving bass and guitar beneath him. Yet even with this newfound release, he remains disillusioned with where he heads, his melancholy matched by a sombre piano.
Praise for lead single “Tintoretto, It’s For You”:
“Electro beats, pop synths and jazz piano duel as he hallucinates ‘palm trees stopping to kiss the bishop’s ring.’ Painterly.” MOJO
“Dan Bejar goes disco to accompany his latest collection of ecstatic, free-associating poetry and killer one-liners.” Uncut
“menacing and theatrical, bursting with distorted synths, cracking drums, and blaring trumpet. The sound itself might seem like an urgent shift toward art-punk collage,
but listen closely and you will hear Dan Bejar paraphrase an apocalyptic Leonard Cohen song.” Pitchfork
“an intoxicating cut-and-paste collage of wild drums, orchestral stabs and synthesizers while Dan spits out Bejarian lines like ‘The ceiling’s on fire and the contract is binding.’” Brooklyn Vegan
“If Suicide wrote a song in the bookstore’s classic lit section, it might turn out like this.” The FADER
More than an arcane puzzle for the listener, LABYRINTHITIS warps and winds through unfamiliar territory for Bejar as well. Written largely in 2020 and recorded the following spring, the album most often finds Bejar and frequent collaborator John Collins seeking the mythic artifacts buried somewhere under the dance floor, from the glitzy spiral of “It Takes a Thief” to the Books-ian collage bliss of the title track. Initial song ideas ventured forth from disco, Art of Noise, and New Order, Bejar and Collins championing the over-the-top madcappery.
Bejar and Collins conducted their questing in the height of isolation, Collins on the remote Galiano Island and Bejar in nearby Vancouver, sending ideas back and forth when restrictions didn’t allow them to meet. Ahead of mixing, the Destroyer band was brought into the fold to further the unprepared synchronicity and mutual discovery.
Lyrically, LABYRINTHITIS embraces a widescreen maximalism, blocks of text dotted with subversions and hedges. Building from the koans of Have We Met, Bejar continues to carve his words precisely, toying with expectations and staid symbols, while Collins’ production reconstructs the pieces into a unified whole.
Destroyer UK + European tour:
24th June – Kino Siska, Ljubljana (SLO)
26th June – Theatre Archa, Prague (CZ)
28th June – UT Connewitz, Leipzig (GER)
30th June – Open’er Festival, Gdynia (PL)
2nd July – Vida Festival, Vilanova i la Geltrú (ES)
4th July – Theatro Circo, Braga (POR)
5th July – Musicbox, Lisboa (POR)
21st September – Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL)
22nd September – Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg (GER)
Having recently announced their signing to Bella Union and shared the captivating single “No Dreams of Fayres”, today Tallies share two more stunning new tracks from their upcoming second album, due for release later this year. Blistering new single “Wound Up Tight” comes accompanied by a psychedelic video created by Christopher Mills. “This song is about being stuck in a constant rotating vicious circle that makes one want to tear their own hair out,” say the band. “A feeling towards someone who just doesn’t care enough to make a change.”
Tallies have also shared a more wistful new track titled “Heavens Touch”. Commenting on the track the band say: “This song is someone’s pleas for more love, more time, and more effort from their partner. They’re willing to do whatever it takes in exchange for more love.”
Produced by Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck) and Dylan Frankland of the band at Palace Sound, Baskitball 4 Life and Candle Recording in Toronto, the new tracks mark a significant step up in what the band’s 2019 acclaimed debut album promised, once again drawing on the ethereal dream-pop aesthetics of Lush, Beach House and Cocteau Twins but this time turning the dial on some of those shimmering guitar lines.
Tallies, who have previously opened for the likes of Mudhoney, Tim Burgess, The Ocean Blue and Hatchie, is made up of founding members guitarist Dylan Frankland and singer/guitarist Sarah Cogan, who are joined by drummer, Cian O’Neill. Tallies recently announced to play at next month’s SXSW Festival in Austin and New Colossus Festival in New York. The band will also be performing at Focus Wales in May and will be announcing further UK shows soon.
Having last month shared lead track “Funny Girl”, today Father John Misty shares the video for “Q4”, the new single from Chloë and the Next 20th Century, his forthcoming new album out 8th April via Bella Union in the UK/Europe and worldwide from Sub Pop. Directed by Grant James (“I Love You, Honeybear”, “Funtimes in Babylon”) with title design by Rafa Orrico and typestract animation by Cossa, the video can be viewed now.
Chloë and the Next 20th Century was written and recorded August through December 2020 and features arrangements by Drew Erickson. The album sees Tillman and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Wilson resume their long-time collaboration, as well as Dave Cerminara’s return as engineer and mixer. Basic tracks were recorded at Wilson’s Five Star Studios with strings, brass, and woodwinds recorded at United Recordings in a session featuring Dan Higgins and Wayne Bergeron, among others.
“Funny Girl”, Chloë and the Next 20th Century’s first single, saw praise upon its release in early January. Rolling Stone offers this: “A lovely, languid gem that shows Tillman quietly reintroducing himself – with a little help from an orchestral arrangement that echoes old Hollywood.” The FADER says ‘Funny Girl’ is a “lush and romantic ballad…and shows that there’s much more to Josh Tillman.” CLASH calls it a “gorgeous new song” while The Times say that “the singer-songwriter is as disarmingly seductive as ever on a wry, string-soaked show tune.”
On April 14th Father John Misty will celebrate the release of Chloë and The Next 20th Century with a pair of intimate performances presented by Rough Trade and Rockefeller Center at the iconic Rainbow Room in NYC. Father John Misty’s first two symphony performances for 2022 – February 25th in Los Angeles at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Phil, and April 7th in London at the Barbican with Britten Sinfonia conducted by Jules Buckley – both sold out within minutes of going on sale.
Having kicked off 2022 with an announcement of their new album “At The Hotspot” along with lead single “Fatso”, Warmduscher are today pleased to announce a 12″ white label vinyl. The release will be limited to 150 copies and features the original version of “Fatso” as well as a remix of the single from Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard.
Pre-order the 12″ now on Bandcamp and be sure to stay tuned for all future news from Warmduscher.
Marissa Nadler today releases her new EP, The Wrath of the Clouds on Bella Union and Sacred Bones. Fresh off of her acclaimed 2021 full-length LP, The Path of the Clouds, the EP features two covers and three previously unreleased tracks written during the Path sessions. To Nadler, rediscovering The Wrath of the Clouds’ songs felt “like uncovering lost gems that I had forgotten about,” and the result is a beautiful release as rich and essential as its predecessor.
The three original tracks on The Wrath of the Clouds all swim in similar waters as Nadler’s last release, but expand on her sonic and conceptual expertise. The intoxicating “Guns on the Sundeck” is a stunning epic written from the point of view of the eerie Queen Mary ship. “All the Eclipses” sees the return of Amber Webber of Black Mountains as a featured guest, as she and Nadler lull listeners under their waltzing spell. In “Some Secret Existence,” Nadler layers her voice atop sparse and tasteful guitar work, illustrating her ability to build a dense and beautiful world with not much more than her harmonies. The Wrath of the Clouds closes with two covers that emphasize Nadler’s ability to make any song her own. “Once I had finished the album, these two covers were on the top of my list,” says Nadler. “These were a really nice capping off to the season of this writing.”
“Virtuoso songs… Exquisitely wrought tales of mystery and imagination.” MOJO – 4 stars ****
“A lyrical treasure trove… Nadler’s usually sparse, gothic folk style is emboldened by well-chosen collaborators from Simon Raymonde to Emma Ruth Rundle.” Uncut – 8/10
“The sense of an artist rising to her sky-scraping potential rings out clearly.” Record Collector – 4 stars ****
“Evocative and atmospheric… This lush self-produced record uses the murder ballad form to tell real and imagined tales of lust, death and revenge.” WIRE
“A fascinating album… as strong a set of songs as Nadler has confected.” Metro – 4 stars ****
“Singular and haunting… An album to lose yourself in, and Nadler’s finest so far.” Rock’n’Reel – 4 stars ****
“Highly atmospheric and conceptually intelligent, The Path of the Clouds is a worthy addition to Nadler’s impressively consistent catalogue.” Loud & Quiet
“The best album of her career… An artist at the peak of her powers.” Louder Than War
