- A culture magazine reaching terminal verbosity -
"Organic but digital, aggressive but tender, hallucinatory but clear-eyed." That's how Wild Beasts describe "Celestial Creatures," the third single from their forthcoming 5th LP, Boy King, due out August 5 via Domino, and we'd have to say we agree with that assessment.
Following "Get My Bang" and "Big Cat," the space-y track maintains a steadily uplifting locomotion, boosted by Hayden Thorpe's always elegant vocals. Listen below.
Wild Beasts - Celestial Creatures (Official Audio) from 'Boy King' - the new album out 5th August 2016 Pre-order digital: http://po.st/BoyKingDL Pre-order CD/LP/LPX: http://po.st/BoyKingStore Listen to Wild Beasts on Spotify: http://po.st/CelestialStream http://po.st/WildBeastsSP Follow Wild Beasts: Facebook: http://po.st/WildBeastsFB Twitter: http://po.st/WildBeastsTW Instagram: http://po.st/WildBeastsIN http://vevo.ly/PD9X6B
Wild Beasts reaffirm their position at the "top of the food chain" with the new video for second Boy King single and opening track, "Big Cat." Directed by Pablo Maestres and shot outside Barcelona, the "Get My Bang" follow-up shows the band on a curious car trip set most prominently to Hayden Thorpe's sultry vocals and a steady percussion backing, before concluding with a coyote standoff. Only when face to face, Wild Beast to wild beast, are you then treated to a brief glimpse of some sharp guitar fangs that leave you wanting more.
Thorpe explains,
“If ‘Get My Bang’ was a song of the id then ‘Big Cat’ is the ego. It marked a breakthrough in the writing process for the album, defining the swagger and attitude that would come to shape ‘Boy King.’ He is all powerful, but at what price?”
"Big Cat" is indeed an apt metaphor for a band named as they are, and their already well-exhibited seductive tendencies seem positively set to prowl on this forthcoming LP. "It takes a lot of love, baby / To love a big cat / Are you okay with that?" Thorpe coos. Such dominance isn't for everyone, but Wild Beasts suavely continue to assume the role with natural, irresistible ease.
Boy King is due out August 5 via Domino.
Bands are often boxed into having narrow calling cards despite their best efforts, whether it be a niche genre or a particular magnum opus from 2006 unfairly labeled as a one-hit wonder. But five years after their last LP, Gimme Some, gave us 300% of a normal thumbs up in the form of guitar-driven power pop, and a full decade after their ubiquitous hit, "Young Folks," whistled its way into hearts and sync licenses everywhere, Peter Bjorn and John's seventh album, Breakin' Point, offers something altogether different.
Their first full-length released on the band's own label, INGRID, but polished by a veritable all-star team of outside producers, it's a pure pop collection of 12 singles that simultaneously signifies both increasing independence and their most controlled and collaborative effort to date. It's 41 minutes of danceable relief from some of the negative themes lyricized - such as dealing with The Man and modern music industry woe - made all the more special considering its creators only had two hours of sunlight back home in which to play it.
On a recent warm summer night, Peter Bjorn and John continued the first steps of an American tour in support of Breakin' Point as the headlining act at a modest food festival in the streets of Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. Several delays (the preceding band's grand piano didn't exit the stage without an apparent fight, nor did the Swedes' monitors play nicely) and a hard curfew saw the easy-going trio abruptly cut off after 40 minutes, leaving throwback set closer "Objects Of My Affection" sadly unperformed, but even that did little to mar what was a classically exuberant PB&J show now also aided by new touring members and that special kind of excitement that can only come after a hiatus as long as theirs.
Transverso sat down with guitarist and lead vocalist, Peter Morén, and percussionist, John Eriksson, following their set to discuss Breakin' Point, illegitimate sons, and why they keep on whistling even after all these years.
TRANSVERSO: So tell us about this Breakin’ Point tour.
JOHN ERIKSSON: This specific tour is the first feeling of how the songs are taken by the audience [that] has heard the whole album, and it’s very different from all other tours because we’re bringing all our families in a hippie bus. There’s one family bus and one crew bus; I think the family bus, that’s where the party is! [Laughs]
How has bringing your families along affected tour life?
PETER MORÉN: We just started, so we’ll see. All day is gonna be taking care of kids.
How has leaving your old label and releasing Breakin’ Point on your own startup, INGRID, changed your process? Do you feel you have more freedom now?
MORÉN: Not really. We didn’t know it was going to be on INGRID, really, but we started the label in between the records so it felt pretty natural eventually, but I don’t think it affected the record.
ERIKSSON: Pontus [Winnberg] from Miike Snow - they are also in the INGRID label - actually co-produced two of the songs. I think that might not have happened if we didn’t have that label with [them]. We worked in the INGRID studios in Stockholm for a week and the week after Miike Snow did their new album, so meeting Pontus was a natural thing to collaborate. We might play on their record and Pontus worked with us, so that’s the good thing about INGRID: collaborations and stuff.
And it wasn’t just Pontus; you enlisted a lot of outside producers for this album including Paul Epworth (Paul McCartney, U2, Florence And The Machine) and Patrick Berger (Robyn, Icona Pop), which you don’t normally do. Has that outside influence in the studio made it more difficult for you to translate the record to your live show?
ERIKSSON: No.
MORÉN: It was hard doing the record. It took a long time, but when we finally got the record done and started rehearsing live it felt pretty natural to do the arrangements. That’s partly why we wrote in those [new touring members]. We usually only play the three of us so this is like an upgrading or something. [Laughs]
ERIKSSON: Its PB&J Big Band... PB&J Plus Two.
I was thinking, because of your band name you can’t ever really change members.
MORÉN: [Laughs] It would have to be the same name.
How many bassists are there named Björn?
ERIKSSON: There was a guitar player named Björn Ulvaeus in ABBA, the old Swedish band. He played the bass too. Yeah, we met [him] at the airport a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t say so much, but he might be able to fill in. [Laughs]
I read that ABBA’s been such a huge influence on you you once jokingly claimed to be their illegitimate sons.
ERIKSSON: [Laughs] Oh yeah!
You’ve been around a while now yourselves, is there another band you’ve influenced that could be your illegitimate sons?
MORÉN: [Laughs] Ooh, good question…
ERIKSSON: There was a Swedish guy [Peter] actually did some work with, I thought he was your son, he seemed to like the same stuff you did. He was a Swedish hairdresser, that guy.
MORÉN: [Laughs] What? A Hairdresser?
ERIKSSON: Yeah! His name was Mikael… Mike? Mikey? Michael? I don’t know. [Laughs]
MORÉN: Someone I played with?
ERIKSSON: Yeah!
I know Paul McCartney is another big influence of yours, and it was his birthday yesterday. I know it's kind of an impossible question, but I was curious if you might have a favorite song of his.
MORÉN: Ooh, that’s interesting. It’s funny, because yesterday we were playing Nashville and Ringo Starr was playing [there too] on Paul’s birthday. It’s kind of hard, I’ve almost heard them all. Let me think… I actually did a Spotify playlist with 150 Paul McCartney songs, it’s actually pretty good.
ERIKSSON: [Laughs] For who?
MORÉN: For anyone who wants it! [Laughs] And I didn’t even count the classical records or experimental electronic records, I just did the pop records. But that’s a good playlist actually, I recommend it, I’ll send it to you! [Laughs] There’s a pretty little song I’ll pick today called “I’m Carrying.” It’s on the London Town record. That’s George Harrison’s favorite Paul McCartney song, so I pick that today, and tomorrow it’ll be something else.
ERIKSSON: You’ll have to update your website.
Pick up the NEW ALBUM Breakin' Point from our store here: http://smarturl.it/BuyBreakinPoint The new album Breakin' Point is OUT NOW! Check it out on Spotify here: http://smarturl.it/BreakinPointSpotify "Our first new rock video is here! Check out the awesome video makers from ANIED and their playful adaptation of the lyrics in "What you talking about?"
You critique the music industry in “Pretty Dumb Pretty Lame,” specifically the entitlement of some artists. Is there anything specific that inspired that subject?
MORÉN: It began with this thing where artists moan about how hard it is being an artist. Like, okay, skip it then! [Laughs] I don’t get [it], like things should be great if people come and see you play, otherwise you should skip it. I don’t see the point in being an artist if you don’t enjoy it, because no one forced you to be come an artist. There's a lot of shit in this industry for sure, it’s kind of quite fucked up, so there's a lot to critique. [Laughs]
You're successful artists who seem to enjoy what you do now, but I know Peter was studying to be a librarian before the band took off. That made me wonder: if you weren’t Peter Bjorn and John, what would you be doing instead?
MORÉN: I had some [jobs] before: I did some teaching, I worked in a bookshop. It would always be jobs because you had to pay rent, it wouldn’t be passion. I enjoy studying film, so I don’t know, it’s hard to say. Maybe I would write something like music reviews, that’s fun.
ERIKSSON: Luckily I had an old music career - I don’t want to call it career because it’s a hobby still, music - but I played classical percussion in a classical ensemble, so if PB&J hadn't happened I would still be doing that, I think. I’m happy I was drawn out of that because I did it for a long time, but now if I could choose I wouldn’t go back to that. I’ve been thinking about that… as Peter said I like movies too, but you know how hard it is to make an album, then to make a movie it’s like 20x the troubles with every detail, so I wouldn’t go into film. So same as Peter; just writing words. That would be fun because then it’s quiet and you can do it anywhere. That must be a very good job to be a writer, I must say, as you are. If Björn was here he would answer he wants to be a tennis pro, I’m sure.
In the past you’ve discussed the juxtaposition of light and dark present in both Swedish culture and the pop genre. Can you elaborate on how that inspires your creative vision?
MORÉN: It’s not something we discuss or decide about, it’s just something that happens quite naturally. It’s been like that on almost all the records, but I realized there are some very positive songs as well here and there. But if you take like a whole catalog and divide it down theres a lot of more depressed lyrics or slightly negative. I like that juxtaposition, but, for me anyway, it’s not planned like I think I should write negative lyrics to positive music.
ERIKSSON: It’s a natural Swedish melancholy always in every laughter. [Laughs]
MORÉN: [Laughs] It’s a long tradition in pop music. It’s quite common actually even in stuff you don’t think about, like even early Beatles songs that are happy are like, “I’m a loser,” “Help!” It’s all shit. Lyrics are really depressing.
ERIKSSON: It’s dark; during winter season where we come from up north it’s like two hours a day you might see the sun. Apart from that it’s just total darkness. So maybe that should affect you in some way, but also it might be a reason why there are so many musicians; you have to be indoors when it’s too cold to be outside [so] you either become a hockey player or a musician. If you live in Brazil you can be outside all day, you can be good at football.
MORÉN: For us at least, and a lot of Swedes, I think, the way we were brought up in really small villages [in] the middle of nowhere there wasn’t a lot to do. There were a lot of people doing sports and [we weren’t] into that, so when I got into music I did a lot of it myself. I learned to play guitar by myself and just listened to records and write songs to keep myself amused. Then of course when you grow up and move to Stockholm there are a lot of things happening, but I think sometimes you try to get back to that vibe of being bored to be able to create music. [Laughs]
ERIKSSON: All our friends, all my classmates were playing hockey except me. I found music, and same for Peter and Björn too. So it’s interesting that we three met [because we] started off not finding any bandmates because we lived in this small city up in the north of Sweden. But then you end up in Stockholm and you form a band that’s now playing in Chicago! It’s pretty weird and amazing. [Laughs]
Breakin’ Point features a decent amount of whistling, but in the press release you made a point to say it shouldn’t be seen as a big deal. Have you felt pressured or hesitant about including whistling in your songs since “Young Folks”?
MORÉN: Yeah, I guess. I don’t know if it was discussed on any previous records but there was some whistling on the instrumental record called Seaside Rock, but no one noticed. There is whistling on [Writer’s Block track “Amsterdam”], too.
ERIKSSON: And on “Objects Of My Affection” and the B-side “Ancient Curse.” We whistled the whole summer.
MORÉN: And on this record we whistled on “Nostalgic Intellect” as well, but it’s together with the organs so it doesn’t sound as much. I think even on this new one we were kind of hesitating, which is why I said it wasn’t a big thing. It is something you do naturally; I always see people [doing it]. You just whistle stuff, you know? So on that song “Breakin’ Point” we had the piano melody already recorded, but then I was recording my voice and I started whistling, and someone said we should keep that and turn it up. But we were hesitating, actually. [Laughs]
ERIKSSON: Yeah, it’s like you did a magic trick at a party; you can’t do it at the next party or people with think you're cheesy or something. [Laughs] Peter had a supergroup called Tutankamon for a while, and you did a song with whistling and it was kind of not so far from “Young Folks.” You played it in a jeans store and did that whistling and I thought, for me, it didn’t fit. Like, Peter shouldn’t whistle, that felt bad.
You can't whistle with other bands!
ERIKSSON: Yeah, I felt betrayed actually! [Laughs]
Read our review of Breakin' Point here.
Amidst their #FestivalKillers summer circuit with Big Boi, Phantogram have dropped some much-hinted-at music of their own. Following 2014's fantastic Voices and last year's self-titled EP as Big Grams, the upstate New Yorkers have released "You Don't Get Me High Anymore," the lead single from their forthcoming third LP due out this September, Three.
Sarah Barthel's breathless vocals dance over Josh Carter's heavy, fuzzed-out beats in a way that implants the flashing lights of their live show directly into your head at first listen alone. As Barthel told Pitchfork, Three's conception was steeped in loss, from that of Bowie to Prince, and even her own sister who tragically passed in January, and the lyrics reflect that through restless angst: "Walk with me to the end / Stare with me into the abyss / Do you feel like letting go? / I wonder how far down it is."
Check out the track and tour dates below, and revisit our review of Big Grams EP here.
http://www.youdontgetmehigh.com 6.16.16 #III See all Phantogram tour dates at: http://republicrec.co/PhantogramTour Follow Phantogram on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PhantoFacebook Twitter: http://bit.ly/PhantoTwitter Instagram: http://bit.ly/PhantoInstagram Spotify: http://bit.ly/PhantoSpotify YouTube: http://bit.ly/PhantoYouTube SoundCloud: http://bit.ly/PhantoSoundcloud Tumblr: http://bit.ly/PhantoTumblr
Feeling restrained by the traditional rock band setup, Los Angeles natives Hypnotic Hyena (Samuel Duffey) and Chris Jaxon (Chris Jackson) joined forces to start a project where they have total control. Named after Jaxon’s sister’s first name and his mother’s maiden name, TÂNZI has become a pop rock duo with heavy electronic influence, and Transverso is proud to debut their first single, "Imaginary Sounds."
A steadily marching dance beat transforms into some sunny guitar work as the track opens with, "My love for you is driving on the freeway," a fitting metaphor for what undoubtedly makes a great summer driving song. Complete with an informational voice sample appropriately reminiscent of the secretary at the end of Pink Floyd's "Young Lust," "Imaginary Sounds" tells the story of an unsuccessful sexual encounter.
Jaxon tells Transverso, "'Imaginary Sounds' symbolizes our first step as true pop artists. It's the first thing we have written that we believe can be played on the radio, and that is something we are really proud of."
Check out "Imaginary Sounds below," and catch TÂNZI at LOVEFEST this August 5-7.
The wait for this one was so long we're not young folks anymore. Everyone’s favorite Swedish indie pop trio, Peter Bjorn and John, had been taunting fans with #PBJ7 social posts for much of the five years since Gimme Some gave us 300% of a normal thumbs-up in 2011, before finally releasing their 7th LP, Breakin’ Point, today. Delayed by growing families and a label shift as the band left Sony imprint Startime for their own Stockholm startup, INGRID, the wait has turned out, of course, to be worth it.
Breakin’ Point launches straight into things; you can already picture audiences clapping along as disco-tinged lament of working for The Man, ”Dominos,” sets off the "chain reaction" that launches into 12 tightly-packed tracks, all clocking in at 3:something or less (even “A Long Goodbye" doesn't reach four minutes) as if the triple-headed hammer on the cover itself cranked them out.
“It says, ‘We’re back! We’re smashing it!’” bassist Björn Yttling explains of the album art, which consists of, per tradition, three parts - one for each member. It's the affable Swedes’ most cartoonish and playful offering yet, which says a lot for the trio that gave us the undeniable whistler “Young Folks" among others, but their pop sensitivities, as radio-ready as they increasingly are for better or worse, lose little in the ways of heart. It needs to be “like ABBA,” Yttling says, and it’s clear they take the inspiration of their compatriots seriously; PB&J recorded Breakin’ Point in studios formerly used by ABBA, and have even jokingly claimed to be the classic group’s illegitimate sons.
PB&J first explored using outside producers on Gimme Some, but they’ve enlisted an entire star-studded roster of them this time around, including Paul Epworth (Paul McCartney, U2, Florence And The Machine), Patrick Berger (Robyn, Icona Pop), Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia), Emile Haynie (Kanye West, FKA Twigs), Pontus Winnberg (Miike Snow) and Thom Monahan (Wild Nothing, Devendra Banhart). The band explored several evolutions following their well-deserved Writer’s Block breakthrough from Seaside Rock’s instrumentals, Living Thing’s minimalist electro-funk, and Gimme Some’s amped up guitar-driven power dynamics, and the newfound influence of big pop producers doesn’t go unfelt here as Breakin’ Point instead reaches for peak accessibility and polish.
Pre-order the new album "Breakin' Point" here: http://smarturl.it/BuyBreakinPoint or on iTunes here: http://smarturl.it/PBJDominosiTunes "Our first new rock video is here! Check out the awesome video makers from ANIED and their playful adaptation of the lyrics in "What you talking about?" Love Peter Bjorn and John 'What You Talking About?'
Long-term fans will attest it was PB&J’s endearing quirks that kept them around after some fantastic sync licensing first propelled their 2006 ubiquitous flagship tune to the world stage, however - the beautifully poignant epic of “Up Against The Wall,” the captivatingly juxtaposed aggression of “Lay It Down," the viciously enthralling hook of ”Amsterdam” (which has been this author’s ringtone for as long as he can remember) - and Breakin’ Point lacks any adventurous, next-level standout in that way, resulting in their most consistently medium tempo, homogenous effort in years.
That being said, PB&J do however succeed at what they (safely) do attempt; the frantic skitter and plink of “What You Talking About?” proves they still know exactly what they’re saying, and they're slick while they do it. Their iconic, cheerful whistling notably returns in the title track and “Nostalgic Intellect,” (which “may seem like bigger news than it is, hey its only whistling,” the press release notes), with the former bolstering Peter Morén’s soaring vocals as they present a vulnerably honest attempt at finding courage for newfound fatherhood: “I saw it in Jesus / Saw it in Superman / Got it from whiskey / Like any loser can.”
“Do Si Do” drops a Beatles reference on its way to the dancefloor, while “Between The Lines” aptly concludes “It's hard to sing if your hearts not there.” The punchy cowbell in album highlight and closer “Pretty Dumb Pretty Lame” is far from either of those things as PB&J address the triviality and tension found in their own profession: “Well you complain in the press / You’ve been under a stress / Well every nine-to-fiver is stressed out for less / If you enjoy what you do / Don’t let it ruin you.” These glimpses of true self-awareness are a precious commodity in today’s pop, and it’s exactly that and their genuinely disarming disposition that has always set them apart from their pop rock peers, even at their most formulaic.
“There are very few songs in our collection that are positive. I can’t think of one,” Yttling admits, which may surprise casual listeners. “It's always been about the blues. Life is shit, but tonight is nice – that’s what pop is, especially the songs that we love. You wanna have some darkness to be able to see the light. That’s how we do it up here in Sweden! It’s like a black and white movie if you look out: snow and a black mass of darkness.” It’s may not always reach the depth of past works, but Breaking’ Point does its part to make that darkness abate, even if for only 41 minutes.
Read our full-length interview with Peter Bjorn and John here.
of Montreal has debuted new single "it's different for girls" on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show and announced new album Innocence Reaches will follow-up last year's Aureate Gloom on August 12 via Polyvinyl.
Right off the bat it's clear the (American) Athenian psychedelic darlings have re-enlisted frontman Kevin Barnes' brother David for the art direction, with this newest kaleidoscopic offering exploring the “wonderment for the female anatomy." The track itself also harkens back to a more pre-Lousy With Sylvianbriar glittery sound and bears at least a passing resemblance to label-mates STRFKR.
According to Kevin, the forthcoming tunes are indeed more inspired by his contemporary peers than past work,
“Forever I’ve been detached from current music. I got into this bubble of only being in some other time period. I came up picking apart the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and symphonic pieces. But last year, I was hearing Jack Ü, Chairlift, Arca, and others, thinking about low end and sound collage. It was an extra layer to geek out on.”
At least one other song from Innocence Reaches has been performed live already as well. Listen to "it's different for girls" and check out the full album art and (all lowercase) tracklist below.
"it's different for girls" appears on of Montreal's full-length album, Innocence Reaches, available August 12, 2016. Pre-order 2xLP/CD/cassette/digital: http://plyvnyl.co/innocencereaches
Innocence Reaches
Read our in-depth interview with of Montreal here.
They say God works in mysterious ways, but Jesus himself appearing to an unwilling heavy metal disciple via a late night quesadilla is certainly a new one. And that's exactly what happens in Man Man and Mister Heavenly master Honus Honus' self-directed music video for his first official solo track, "Heavy Jesus," the lead single off his forthcoming self-released debut, Use Your Delusion, due out in September. The album features ex-Modest Mouse and current Cold War Kids duo Joe Plummer and Dann Gallucci as mixer and drummer, respectively.
Opening with Honus himself cruising down the street on a bike in a way reminiscent of the trouble-making kids in "Piranhas Club," the unlikely tale of nonconsensual divine intervention sizzles with that classic VCR home video feel. The self-described “apocalyptic LA pop” vibe is indeed more on the "croon-y and singing-y" side of his vocal range as Honus told Transverso it would be back in October, but that doesn't keep the sunny song from being paired with a comparatively dark Ozzy-inspired dove-decapitating bite.
You can get "Heavy Jesus" along with four other B-sides/covers if you preorder Use Your Delusion through the Pledge Music campaign, which recently surpassed its goal with still over 100 days remaining (sadly the $666 denim vests are now sold out). Honus has also announced a tour opening for Mister Heavenly bandmate Nick Thorburn's Islands, the dates for which are listed below the video.
Tour:
6/1 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow's
6/3 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
6/4 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
6/5 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
6/7 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
6/9 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Teragram Ballroom
6/10 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
6/11 - Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon
Read our full interview with Honus here.
Enthralling experimentalists Wild Beasts have announced their forthcoming 5th LP, Boy King, due out August 5 via Domino with the release of lead single and video, "Get My Bang" and a host of European tour dates.
Wild Beasts have never been afraid to evolve across albums, and this first taste of Boy King - leather jackets, immensely '80s cover art, and all - is no exception. More straightforward than previous works, a linear drum base and unabashedly direct lyrics shed much of the painstakingly clever wordplay and dynamic brooding that set apart their past discography as "Get My Bang" reignites much of their signature libidinous themes but with an altogether different sort of polished package. "No getting it right / No getting it wrong / Just getting it on," indeed.
Co-frontman Hayden Thorpe explains,
“After five records there had to be an element of ‘what the fuck?’ It became apparent that that guitar almost became the character within the songs, that phallic character, the all-conquering male. I’m letting my inner Byron fully out, I thought I’d tucked him away, but he came screaming back like the Incredible Hulk. I think ‘Boy King’ is an apocalyptic record. It’s about swimming in the abyss. When you think about sex, you’ve got to think about death, they’re one and the same.”
Boy King was recorded in Dallas, enlisting producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, The War on Drugs), while the accompanying visual was shot in Belgrade and directed by Olivier Groulx (Arcade Fire, alt-J). Check out the video, tracklist, and tour dates below.
Wild Beasts - Get My Bang (Official Video) from 'Boy King' - the new album out 5th August 2016 Pre-order digital: http://po.st/BoyKingDL Pre-order CD/LP/LPX: http://po.st/BoyKingStore Listen to Wild Beasts on Spotify: http://po.st/WildBeastsSP http://po.st/MyBangStream Directed by Olivier Groulx The video for 'Get My Bang' was shot in Belgrade and directed by Olivier Groulx (Arcade Fire, alt-J, Scott Walker) featuring vocalist Hayden Thorpe's twisted routine of Justin Timberlake-meets-Trent Reznor choreography.
Boy King
Tour:
6/18 – Madrid, ES @ MadCool Festival
7/26-27 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
7/28-29 – Brighton, UK @ Hove Old Market
8/18 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
8/26 – Dumfries, UK @ Electric Fields
8/27 – Helsinki, FI @ Modern Sky Festival
9/02 – Vlieland, NL @ Into the Great Wide Open
9/04 – Laois, IE @ Electric Picnic
9/24 – Hamburg, DE @ Reeperbahn Festival
9/28 – Bristol, UK @ Motion
9/29 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
9/30 – Margate, UK @ By the Sea Festival
10/01 – Sheffield, UK @ The Foundry
10/03 – Cambridge, UK @ The Junction
10/04 – London, UK @ The Roundhouse
10/07 – Newcastle, UK @ Northumbria Uni
10/08 – Glasgow, UK @ QMU
10/09 – Manchester, UK @ Academy
10/12 – Belgium, BE @ Botanique Orangeries
10/13 – Paris, FR @ La Gaite Lyrique
10/14 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
10/15 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie
10/16 – Cologne, DE @ Luxor
10/18 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
10/20 – Berlin, DE @ Kesselhaus
10/21 – Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Music Bar
10/23 – Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik
10/25 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
10/26 – Lyon, FR @ Epicure Moderne
10/29 – Bilbao, ES @ BIME
Majical Cloudz may have sadly dissipated, but as promised Devon Welsh has not slowed, and on his first solo release (not an “album,” but merely a “collection”) since, Down the Mountain, he proves that even in tracks deemed excess he is capable of smoothly tapping into your synapses with a softer pierce and purer honesty than most would-be crooners could ever hope to achieve.
Welsh explains,
“This is a small collection of songs that were written at different times over the last two years. Some of them were written during the same time as ‘Are You Alone?’ but did not end up on that album for one reason or another. Others were written and recorded for fun last summer.
I want to release all these songs because I like them a lot and since I am working on new music, my attention will inevitably go to that new music and these songs will be forgotten, and forgotten songs are sad.
So this isn’t an album, and it isn’t an album of ‘new music’, but it’s a collection of older songs that I like and that I feel deserve to be released.
Note: The recordings might sound a bit rough, I mixed and mastered it myself and am in the process of learning how to be better at that..”
The titular track consoles a friend over the loss of their mother with the belting of “It’s alright" willing its soothing empathy to eclipse the darkness through volume as we’re treated to Welsh’s boldest vocal injection in recent memory. This gives away to a bouncy piano trot paired with lyrics as light as you’ll hear from the Montrealiant; “Every month is a pleasure / Enjoy this love with me.” “I want to sing to a room full of strangers just for fun / Oh what could be stranger,” Welsh admits in “I Won’t Let You Down,” hopefully hinting at solo performances to come, signature white shirt and all, the blankness of which always served as the perfect canvas for his soliloquies.
It’s fitting that his last tweet before the release was, “I hope I'm alive to see close-up images of other habitable planets, or even any planets outside our solar system…” Welsh’s music has always started with the bare-bones necessities - a rock, an atmosphere - and seemingly welded them together a galaxy away before gently beaming them back closer to home than you could have ever anticipated at first glance.
Collection closer “Dreams” ends with, “I will help you dream / I am your friend,” a sentiment not many could get away with in any meaningful way as he does, but with a steadily ebbing earnestness the heavy space inherent between Down the Mountain’s airy melodies and sedative vocals trawls the deepest veins of feeling such minimalism can mine. The hum and quiver of synthesizers are the breath and pulse while Welsh’s murmurs are the consciousness dancing upon them, but in a way altogether more beautiful than the sum of the parts. Words fail to quite describe such flawless liquidity.
“I don’t know why we’re born and we die,” “Starlight” ponders. It may be the mystery for the ages, but one thing is for sure: Welsh’s continued creative output into this world gives it just a little more meaning to hold on to.