Acclaimed pianist and composer Kevin Hearn announces that he will release a new album on February 11, 2022 titled, There and Then: Solo Piano Improvisations. The album is a collaboration between Hearn and decorated producer and engineer Mark Howard whose credits include career-defining recordings by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and The Tragically Hip. Each day, Howard would inform Kevin where and when the piano would be ready, and then the album came to life.
Says Hearn, “This musical meditation, ‘L’ou’, is one of two pieces on the record that I vocalized on. I slowly repeated ‘ooh’ as I improvised on the piano. With haunting beauty, it sustained and floated in the natural reverb of the Cathedral I performed in. While assigning the song a title, I realized that “Ooh” sounded a lot like ‘Lou’ and it became a perfect opportunity to pay tribute to my friend and musical hero [Lou Reed] so I called the piece ‘L’ou’”
(December 14, 2021 – Toronto, ON) Today, Band of Horses announce that they will be shifting the 2022 release date for their forthcoming album, Things Are Great, to March 4 via BMG.
Band founder Ben Bridwell explains the move was due to unavoidable vinyl delays which meant the vinyl wouldn’t be ready for fans upon release. Bridwell says, “What a year, hell, what an almost two years?! I hope everyone is safe and as mentally whole as possible. We were so excited to put our record out on January 21 this year, but given the current supply chain issues, we had to shift it about a month later so we could make vinyl. Our new release date is March 4! For anyone who pre-ordered the vinyl, we promise it is coming, and we really appreciate you. It was important for us to make sure our fans could listen to our music in whatever format they like. On par with the times, and life, gotta just roll with the punches. In the whole scheme of things, a tiny bump in the road and we just love you.”
(October 12, 2021 – Toronto, ON) Today, Band of Horses are announcing their sixth studio album and their first record in more than five years, Things Are Great which will be released January 21, 2022 via BMG. Sonically the album is a return to their earlier work and the kind of raw ethos that lies at the heart of Band of Horses. The album is available for pre-order HERE.
“Crutch”, the first single from the album is out today and an unguarded first look at what fans can expect. With as much symbolic iconography as a Frida Kahlo lithograph, “Crutch” is a gorgeous, guitar-driven masterpiece which captures exactly why they are still one of the most important bands of their generation. Listen to “Crutch” HERE (single artwork HERE).
Band founder Ben Bridwell tells us, “I think like a lot of my songs, ‘Crutch’ starts with something from my real life. Obviously ‘Crutch’ means some of the things that I was dependent on. My relationship for one. I think I wanted to say, ‘I’ve got a crush on you,’ and I thought it was funny how relationships also feel like crutches. I feel like everybody has had a time when nothing goes right and you still have to carry on. I think that feeling hits you in this song even if you don’t know what the specifics are.”
This time around Bridwell took a bigger role in production than he ever has previously, producing or co-producing every song on the album. He brought in old collaborators including Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle, Dave Fridmann, and Dave Sardy, but it’s not just old friends who were able to help Bridwell achieve the sound he envisioned. For the first time he worked with engineer Wolfgang “Wolfie” Zimmerman. The two had an instant connection which can be felt throughout the record.
Emotionally intense, both on a personal and elemental level, the songs for the most part were written before the world shut down, when all of us were faced with our own mortality and began to take stock of our lives. Here we find Bridwell more autobiographical than he’s ever been on record detailing the nebulous frustrations and quiet indignities of relationship changes and what a person will do to make things right. And what you do when you can’t.
Band of Horses have been making their mark on the festival circuit this summer, playing Lollapalooza, Firefly and Austin City Limits this last weekend. They go straight into 3 nights of intimate shows at Brooklyn Made starting October 18th before continuing their U.S fall tour. All tour dates are listed HERE.
Angels & Airwaves have officially announced that their highly anticipated sixth studio album, LIFEFORMS, will be released on September 24. They have also announced an extensive tour, beginning on September 29 of this year that will extend into 2022. Both of these announcements were first made from space, when the band partnered with Sent Into Space to launch a renewable hydrogen capsule which played an out of this world premiere of the entire album along with displaying the tour and album information – watch HERE.
This celebration extends to the release of the band’s second track from the forthcoming record entitled “Restless Souls” which is written from the perspective of God as a letter to humanity regarding life’s trials and the necessity for humans to demonstrate resiliency.