The Fat Angel Sings

Lala Lala’s new album “I Want The Door To Open” is due out October 8th via Hardly Art Records, and she’s shared another single from it, “Prove It,” which she says “is a song about insatiable people and the idea of ‘good’ vs ‘bad. It’s about lack of control. Even though this song is accusatory, I relate to the person I’m talking to. I think sometimes when we criticize other people we’re also talking about ourselves.”

“I want total freedom, total possibility, total acceptance. I want to fall in love with the rock.”

That’s how Lillie West describes the theme of “Diver,” the song she calls the thesis of Lala Lala’s third record, I Want The Door To Open. The rock in question is a reference to Sisyphus, the mythical figure doomed by the gods to forever push a boulder up from the depths of hell. To West, it is the perfect metaphor for “the labour of living, of figuring out who you are, what’s wrong with you, what’s right with you,” she says. “I think it’s easy to feel like we keep making the same mistakes over and over again, that we never learn, that we’re Sisyphus; but time is actually a spiral that we move up. The key is falling in love with the labour of walking up the mountain.”

Coming off of 2018’s acclaimed “The Lamb”, an introspective indie rock album recorded live with a three-piece band, West knew she was ready to make something sonically bigger and thematically more outward-looking than anything she’d done before; a record that would be less a straightforward documentation of her own personal struggles and more like a poem or a puzzle box, with sonic and lyrical clues that would allow the listener to, as the title says, open the door to the greater meaning of those struggles.

The result is I Want The Door To Open, a bold exploration of persona and presence from an artist questioning how to be herself fully in a world where the self is in constant negotiation. From the moment West declares “I want to look right into the camera” over a cascade of dreamy vocal loops on opening track “Lava,” I Want The Door To Open distinguishes itself from anything she’s done before in scope and intensity. The ultra-magnified iteration of Lala Lala is fully encapsulated in the monumental “Diver.” Inspired by a character from a Jennifer Egan novel, it’s a pop song of Kate Bush-esque proportions replete with layered synths and booming, wide open drumming contributed by fellow Chicago musician Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, and West pushing her vocals to the ragged edge.

Lillie West co-produced “I Want The Door To Open” with Yoni Wolf of Why? and reached out to various music friends to help her achieve a galactic level of atmospherics that would’ve been impossible on her own. In addition to Ogbonnaya, I Want The Door To Open features contributions from poet Kara Jackson, OHMME, Adam Schatz of Landlady, Sen Morimoto, Christian Lee Hutson, and Kaina Castillo. Former tourmate Ben Gibbard can be heard on the gentle “Plates,” a song about accepting the past regardless of whatever negative feelings accompany those memories; a necessary act for unlocking the door to the present moment West is actively seeking on the record.

Throughout “I Want The Door To Open”, West is fascinated with the idea of avatars: how we present ourselves to the world versus how other people see us versus who we really are when we’re alone, and how those images can change over time. “How can anyone else know who you are? How can you know who anyone else is when all these different avatars or personalities or performances are happening simultaneously, in different places,” asks West. It’s a question she poses on the cinematic “Color of the Pool,” a song about wanting to embody the characteristics of something pure and uncatchable that features stacks of wigged-out saxophone from Schatz. West revisits the topic on “Photo Photo,” on which OHMME provide a haunting medieval vocal round as West attempts to parse the various aspects of presentation and representation.

“Utopia Planet,” the final track on “I Want The Door To Open”, features a very special guest: West’s own Grandma Beth, who charmingly relays her thoughts on a painting West made of herself—another avatar of the artist as seen through the eyes of someone who loves her. It is the fitting end to the inner labyrinth that West maps on I Want The Door To Open, a musical quest undertaken with the knowledge that the titular door may never open; but it is through falling in love with the quest itself that one may find the closest thing to total freedom, total possibility, and total acceptance available to us on this plane of existence. 

‘I Want The Door To Open’ by Lala Lala (Out October 8th, 2021)

Wye Oak’s debut online concert should be a must watch, the Durham-via-Baltimore duo are sharing a new single and music video! On “It’s Way With Me” Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack knowingly revel in the unknown, with Wasner gazing “to the warmth of a future I cannot see” as Stack’s polyrhythms propel the song to powerful heights. The song’s equally gorgeous video, a single uninterrupted shot by Spence Kelly (who created the video for last month’s “TNT”), is a must-watch featuring Wasner and a bunch of helpful hands.

Here’s Jenn Wasner on “Its Way With Me”: This song is about surrender—about learning to feel at peace amidst the chaos of existence through letting go of all that is beyond our control. It’s about the fact that change and loss are inseparable from one another, and about trying to have faith in a more peaceful and equitable future, even when the specific details of what that might look like are beyond our imagining.

Wye Oak will debut their first online concert! Captured at Durham’s NorthStar Church of the Arts, the virtual session features Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack in classic Wye Oak duo formation, performing material across their impeccable discography.

Embracing experimentation in how they approach their musical storytelling, Wye Oak continue to eschew the confines of an album cycle. The end of 2019 and early 2020 saw the release of “Fortune” (which Stereogum described as “a glorious synthesis of Wye Oak’s past and present, pointing to a new way forward”), “Fear Of Heights” and “Walk Soft” a continual flow of the amorphous creative energy the two harness, and a testament to Stack and Wasner’s ability to craft fully realized self-contained universes.

In honour of “Civilian” turning ten this year, we’re so excited to share Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011, a deluxe reissue including a second disc made up of songs written during the Civilian era, demos, and live sessions. The first single, “Electricity,” is out everywhere,

“After playing “Electricity” in live shows for a year or so around 2009, we made a studio recording but never mixed it, and ultimately decided to shelve the song. And so, it was relegated to the dustbin of time, AKA an old hard drive which I did not unearth until 2020 when I came looking for old photos and other memorabilia from the Civilian era. On my old drive, I found a treasure trove of material which we had both forgotten ever existed—original demos, live versions of the songs, and, most exciting, a bunch of fully realized studio recordings from this era which never saw the light of day.

On “Electricity,” I was really bashing the drums in a way that I never would now, and I hear that same abandon in Jenn’s singing. The recording has much of what defined the first phase of Wye Oak: an urgent push and pull between chaos and beauty, and a hard-hitting attempt to push out as much sound as we possibly could from our duo setup. It’s not who we are anymore, but I still relate to the old feeling, and I still get goose-bumps when I listen to these recordings. Everything old is new.” – AS

The original demo of “Holy Holy”, recorded in our little attic practice space in Baltimore in late 2010. We weren’t intentionally trying to make it sound like “Cold Blooded Old Times” by Smog but we were absolutely listening to way too much “Cold Blooded Old Times” by Smog.

In July 2020, Wye Oak released the Brooklyn Youth Chorus–assisted “No Horizon” EP, leading The Paris Review to exclaim, “How wonderful it is to hear these artists at the peak of their powers, now a long-lived band but more ambitious than ever. I can’t wait for what’s next.”

“Civillian and Cut All The Wires 2009-2011” the tenth anniversary edition of Wye Oak’s third album Civilian, is due out October 22nd via Merge Records, and from the “lost” album of previously unreleased tracks and demos they’ve shared a demo version of “Holy Holy,” which is beautifully stripped down and raw.

“Civilian + Cut All the Wires (2009-2011)” is out October 22nd, 2021 on Merge Records.

Pysch and indie rock cult legend Nick Saloman celebrates 35 years of The Bevis Frond with new album “Little Eden”. Much like Robert Pollard, Saloman’s well of catchy songs never seems to run dry, as you can hear on “Hold Your Horses.”

Set against the austerity of post-modernism, ‘Little Eden’, The Bevis Frond’s new album glows with vintage McCartney-esque couplets; new single ‘My Own Hollywood’ is a stand-out melodic pop gem that perfectly captures the record.

‘Little Eden’  is a psychedelically-hewn panoramic take on modern Britain punctuated with pure pop melodies and beautifully-observed English melancholy that rekindles your love of music – from the harmonies that are oh-so Teenage Fanclub and Lemonheads, to the grunge and awe of Dinosaur Jr. 

This is an album that yearns for better days signposted by the brutalism of the housing estates that main man Nick Saloman photographed for the cover.

There’s perspective and retrospective tale-spinning where we wait “for the wonderful world to come” (‘Start Burning’), an imaginary future soundtracked by the spirit of Arthur Lee, brought into focus with witty wordplay (who else could dot in “sarcophagus” but a former Countdown champion?) on songs that are littered with spine tingling guitar breaks.

‘Little Eden’ glows with vintage McCartney-esque couplets before rolling out a chiming signature riff on ‘As I Lay Down To Die’ and adopting Jimi-like phrasing on ‘And Away We Go’.

“Harking back to the liberating songcraft of The Beatles, but with a jagged edge.” Classic Rock

A psychedelically-hewn panoramic take on brutalism Britain punctuated with pure pop melodies and beautifully-observed English melancholy.

This is an album that rekindles your love of music – from the harmonies that are oh-so Teenage Fanclub and Lemonheads, to the grunge and awe of Dinosaur Jr.

“Still mixing pop, punk and psych to giddy effect.” The Guardian

A brand new album from national treasures The Bevis Frond.

Releases September 10th, 2021

The Chastity Belt and Childbirth multi-instrumentalist discusses her grappling with a pandemic-induced identity crisis in her forthcoming solo album, “Zorked”.

Julia Shapiro, is the multi-faceted musician and frontwoman, who plays in a number of popular bands. She’s part of the funny, acerbic Childbirth, the droning, often-heavy Chastity Belt and the vigorous Who Is She?, all while spearheading her own solo project. As such, she has many outlets for her vast talent. 

Shapiro is set to release her newest offering, her forthcoming solo record, “Zorked”, which is out October 15th. The 10-song album, which was written during the pandemic, is themed on the idea that confusion abounds these days in a time when there is so much public and private upheaval. 

Shapiro talked about the origin of her new zoned-out record, how she used the guitar to create its heavy, layered soundscapes and what her relationship to the instrument has been like throughout her creative life.

I started playing guitar in sixth grade. Around that time I was listening to Blink-182 and Third Eye Blind. Those were some of the first songs I learned on guitar. Before that, I’d taken piano lessons but it was all classical and it was something my parents had chosen for me. 

“So, for me, playing guitar was my own choice and my own interest. One of my friends at the time also took up guitar and we were taking lessons together. I really just stuck with it.” at the beginning I would just try to learn songs that I liked, that were easy enough. I had a guitar teacher in middle school and another one in high school, so I’d ask them to help me learn certain songs. I learned how to read tabs, so I was just figuring that out. And I think it was a lot of practicing over and over again. 

“I honestly don’t know if I would have that kind of discipline now. But, as a kid, I just spent so much time alone in my room. For me, until I joined Chastity Belt, guitar was just a solo endeavour. It was how I liked to pass my time alone in my room. But yeah, I would look up YouTube videos, if whatever tab I was looking at didn’t quite make sense. I did that a lot.

“I liked Elliott Smith a lot – I still do. He has really advanced guitar methods that are pretty unusual. So, just looking at tabs for his songs wasn’t quite enough. Instead, I would look up people covering his songs. I remember watching an interview on YouTube about his song writing style, which I still think about a lot. It was just him talking about how he writes songs. But it’s just, like, the least descriptive thing. 

Shapiro is in a number of bands, including Chastity Belt, Childbirth, Who Is She? She also has some solo work. How do you think about the guitar differently in each of these projects?

“Well, I don’t play guitar at all in Who Is She? That’s the one band that I drum in. But yeah, I feel like between my solo stuff and Chastity Belt, it’s pretty similar guitar-wise. 

“Although, with my solo stuff, I’m doing both lead and rhythm guitar and bass. Whereas, in Chastity Belt, I’ll do rhythm guitar on one song and lead on another when bandmate Lydia [Lund] is playing rhythm guitar.

“For Childbirth, a lot of it is more power chords and dissonant chord progressions and the more straightforward lead lines. For me, writing a Childbirth song, I could write one in, like, two seconds, probably, which is why it’s probably a joy to have that as a fun outlet.”

“Zorked” out October 15th, 2021 on Suicide Squeeze Records.

The Antlers‘ “Green To Gold”, their first album in seven years, is out today. “Making records is never easy, but this one was pretty rejuvenating and grounding, in ways that I likely won’t fully understand for years to come,” says Peter Silberman. “That elusive sense of perspective that comes with time… well, that’s really what it’s all about.” He adds, “I hope this album provides you with some semblance of calm, and a sense of trust in nature’s course. Thank you for listening, and making space for us in your lives.” It’s a gentle but engaging album and a welcome return. You can pick up the album on limited tan vinyl listen to the album.

The Band are about to play their first show in over two years this fall, on October 22nd at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. For those unfamiliar, Levon’s is a legendary, intimate spot nestled in the woods of the Catskill Mountains. Hard to imagine a more fitting setting for us to perform “Green to Gold” in its entirety, followed by a second set of several songs from across our catalogue.

Peter gave some insight to the inspirations behind “Green to Gold” and he gave us a list of 10 influences that includes artists like Yo La Tengo and Neil Young, books, films, TV shows and podcasts, with commentary for each.

Making records is never easy, but this one was pretty rejuvenating and grounding, in ways that I likely won’t fully understand for years to come. That elusive sense of perspective that comes with time… well, that’s really what it’s all about. I hope this album provides you with some semblance of calm, and a sense of trust in nature’s course. Thank you for listening, and making space for us in your lives.

There’s no two ways about it: The Antlers’ comeback effort is simply delightful. Like a warm cup of tea and the smell of fresh earth on a dewy autumn’s morning, the ultra‑crisp strumming, honeyed warbles and hypnotically dreamy vocal runs at play are downright idyllic and enthralling. It’s a markedly more joyful offering from the indie-rocking Brooklynites, lacking their once‑signature undertone of existential anxiety. But it suits the record well, shifting between cruisy, snail-pace balladry and bright, cantering indie-pop jams. 

The production is clean, but not plastic, the performances tight but not over‑wrung; it feels good to listen to – like you’re sitting in on a casual Sunday morning jam session with the band, sharing smiles and nodding along as you all lose yourselves in the labrythnine soundscapes.

The ANTLERS – 10 Influences Behind the Album “Green To Gold”

The Wonder Years
Other than The Simpsons Season 3-10, this remains possibly my favourite show of all time. I grew up watching it and return to every few years. I love how most of the show is narration and reflection, with a certain sweetness, sadness, and nostalgia that I haven’t really felt from another show in quite the same way. The passage of time and its effect on friendships was a sizable influence on Green to Gold.

Yo La Tengo
They’ve been one of my beloved bands since I was a teenager, and my favourite records of theirs (I Can Hear The Heart…, And Then Nothing…, Summer Sun… There’s a Riot…) have nearly infinite replay value. I’ve always loved their ability to transcend styles, but lately it’s been the effortlessness that’s been so inspirational. The music is complex and experimental without feeling like they’re trying too hard to impress you, yet it’s inviting and there’s clearly so much care put into it. They manage to sound comfortable without being stagnant or unambitious. Something to aspire to

Neil Young – Harvest Moon
This one always has been and likely always will be my favourite Neil Young album. I have many memories of Michael and I listening to it on the road, driving through the desert and elsewhere, and I think we both went into making Green to Gold wanting to somehow bring that energy into our music. I don’t know if we succeeded at that, but it was an important touchstone for our mood-board. Every song on Harvest Moon sounds like it belongs there, like it was recorded on the same dusty afternoon.

Chuck Johnson – Balsams
I’d used pedal steel sparingly in the past, but it wasn’t until I spent endless hours listening to this album that I recognized the potential it held. Thanks to having this record on constant loop for a couple years, my pedal steel (on long-term loan from my dad) transformed into an ambient texture and source of motion across all of Green to Gold. You may not always know it’s there, but it always is.

Home of the Brave
The podcast’s creator and host Scott Carrier is a true original and his shows are immersive, like being in the passenger seat on a road trip across the more desolate parts of the country, talking to people you don’t agree with and doing your best to find compassion for them and if you’re lucky, some common ground. Scott’s narration is plainspoken and thoughtful, and his use of field recordings gives an uncanny sense of place and environment. I’ve been incorporating field recordings for some time now, but hearing them so artfully used on Home of the Brave reinforced the choice.

Beatles Anthology Revisited podcast
Though it was taken down for copyright infringement, a friend sent me the ripped files and I spent many hours with this archival history. Just fascinating that such a far-reaching journey spanned so few years, with so much creative and personal evolution in so short a time. The Beatles, particularly post-acid Beatles, have been in my song writing DNA since I was a kid, but getting so much insight into their process, and revisiting albums I hadn’t heard in years certainly brought that influence to the forefront for many of the new songs.

Ray Bradbury – Dandelion Wine
A series of interconnected, transportive stories set in the idyllic childhood summer of the past. The title refers to a homemade wine of fermented dandelions, kept to catalogue each summer. By drinking it, you’re returned to that particular year. I set out to make an album that might have the same effect, bottling the season and its associated memories and senses.

Peter Wohlleben – The Hidden Life of Trees
An exploration and explanation of the inner workings of trees, how they communicate with one another, their life cycles, nuances and intelligence. The book is scientific but readable for a less-scientific person like myself, personifying these beings in a way that is down to earth and devoid of pseudo-science or magical thinking. Reading (and re-reading) this informed the analogy laid out across the record, and helped me draw parallels between the worlds of people and nature, which are in some sense, the same world.

Richard McGuire – Here
My partner gave me this graphic novel, and its impact was immediate. Essentially, the premise is an illustrated history of one location across all eras of time. I could say more about it, but the story and its effect are so much better through experiencing it.

The Straight Story (David Lynch)
I wasn’t aware of this movie until I read David Lynch’s autobiography. Having been a fan for a long time, I was surprised he’d made a film for Disney, and that it was so heartfelt and not at all weird or scary, and didn’t require decoding. When you remove those elements, you’re left with something melancholic, funny, and patient. It’s essentially a story of reconciliation— how strong-headedness makes that difficult, but time and effort makes it possible.

“Green To Gold” Released March 26th, 2021

All songs written by Peter Silberman and Michael Lerner between 2017—2020 Produced and engineered by Peter Silberman

Deeper’s Origins date back to 2014 when prior to releasing any material an abrupt line-up change left the Chicago based band looking for a new direction. Singer and guitarist Nic Gohl along with childhood friend, guitarist Mike Clawson and drummer Shiraz Bhatti threw out all of their old songs and brought on bassist Drew McBride to round out the line-up. The subsequent demos leaned on intricate guitar interplay, direct “of the times” vocals and a spirit that speaks to the band’s collective place in this pit of endless internet.

Deeper honed their sound over the course of 2015 & 16’ in basements, lofts, and anywhere that would have them. Touring the demos and landing at a fully realized inflection point. Call it Post-Punk, call it Indie Rock, it’s a record that steps in and out of boxes filtered through an unmistakable midwestern lens.

As social norms and political ideologies distort, writing and creating art was the only way to control the growing voice in the band’s collective head. The conceptualizing of the album started and stopped over that two year time warp culminating in a few feverish tracking sessions in late 2017. What was left is a stark shimmering portrait of a modern American experience.

Deeper is a band based in Chicago, Illinois and consists of Shiraz Bhatti, Nic Gohl, Drew McBride and Kevin Fairbairn

Dehd are releasing “Flower Of Devotion” Remixed next week, which finds the band handing over songs from their latest album to Lala Lala, Freak Heat Waves, Lionlimb, and more to be reworked. The band have just shared the remix of “Loner” by Detroit’s Protomartyr, who take the track in some surprising, cool ways, delivering more of a dancey version than you might expect.

“I have a suspicion that this is the most badass a Dehd song will ever sound simply because Protomartyr are so badass,” says Dehd’s Jason Balla. “They have a way of making gloomy optimism and ‘Loner’ is swimming in it. I got to tour with them a few years back and their live performances have really left an impression on me. I think it was also on this fated tour that our tour manager introduced me to the music of Detroit house producer Moodymann, which has been a big inspiration to me and to the idea of making this remix record.”

“I want nothing more than to be a loner,” Emily Kempf sings early on “Flower of Devotion”, the album by Chicago trio Dehd. It’s a startling admission coming from a songwriter who, just a year ago on Dehd’s critically acclaimed Water, wrote eloquently about the joys and pains — more than anything, the necessity — of love, compassion, and companionship. But then, “admission” isn’t really the right word here, given the stridency of Kempf’s tone. “Loner” is a declaration.

The record ups the ante on Dehd’s sound & filters in just enough polish to bring out the shining and melancholy undertones in Jason Balla and Emily Kempf’s song writing, even as it captures them at their most strident. Balla’s guitar lines at times flirt with ticklish cosmic country, while at others they reflect the dark marble sounds of Broadcast. Kempf, meanwhile, establishes herself as a singer of incredible expressive range, pinching into a high lonesome wail, letting loose a chirping “ooh!,” pushing her voice below its breaking point and letting it swing down there. When she and Balla bounce descending counter-melodies off one another over McGrady’s one-two thumps, or skitter off over a programmed drum pad, they sound like The B-52s shaking off heartache.

What makes Flower of Devotion so impressive is how its creation seems to have strengthened its creators, both as individuals and as a unit, even as they’ve stared down their own limitations. It’s also striking just how much fun they seem to be having in the process. “It’s okay to be light hearted in the face of despair,” Kempf says. It’s a theme that runs through the album, from the opening back-and-forth build of “Desire” to the click-clacking chorus of “Haha,” which finds them deflating their own history.

“The aural equivalent of a gleam of hope.” – Bandcamp

“An effortless, elegantly rumpled strain of indie rock with a light touch, ample reverb, and killer vocal harmonies.” –Pitchfork (Best New Music)

“One of the most lively and inspired rock albums to come down the pike in recent memory.” – Variety

Dehd’s “Flower Of Devotion” Remixed out September 17th on Fire Talk Records.

black midi’s new album “Cavalcade” is a dynamic, hellacious, and inventive follow-up to 2019’s widely-praised Schlagenheim, “a labyrinth with hairpin-turn episodes and lyrics full of dourly corrosive observations” (New York Times, Best Albums of 2019). It scales beautiful new heights, pulling widely from a plethora of genres and influences, reaching ever upwards from an already lofty base of early achievements.

black midi’s “Cavalcade”, released this spring, is “an avant-rock labyrinth of maddening intricacy”. Landing on multiple “Best Albums of 2021 ” lists, it remains one of the year’s most praised releases by critics and fans alike. They present a new single, “Cruising” previously only available as a bonus track on the Japanese “Cavalcade” CD release.

Taken from the same sessions as Cavalcade “Cruising” was recorded with John ‘Spud’ Murphy. It slows the pace down with great dynamism, as muted percussion and softly thrumming bass and guitar open the track. As it continues, Greep’s ominous voice hovers in and the instrumentation grows more melancholy and tense. “Cruising” champions black midi’s astounding musicianship. It is without a doubt one of the best guitar albums released in the last five years. The curation and musical precision of the band have resulted in a sumptuously brilliant album.

Cavalcade is an album of extremes, fluctuating between lounging wizardry and an angular, prog-rock nightmare. It’s smart and well-calculated, expressing their range as musicians. Most importantly, it’s the best path forward to keep speculators on their toes.

black midi will tour extensively across the UK, EU and USA beginning later this month. Full dates listed below and tickets are available from black midi’s website. 

The record is a dynamic, hellacious and inventive follow-up to 2019’s widely-praised debut Schlagenheim. It scales beautiful new heights, pulling widely from a plethora of genres and influences, reaching ever upwards from an already lofty base of early achievements.

black midi – Geordie Greep (guitar, primary vocals), Cameron Picton (bass, vocals), and Morgan Simpson (drums) – envisage Cavalcade’s songs as a parade of larger than life figures strolling seductively past them. These include a cult leader fallen on hard times, an ancient corpse found in a diamond mine and legendary cabaret singer Marlene Dietrich, among others.