From the album Cult Following, which came out May 6th, 2016 on Merge Records. If it is the only new track you’ve listened to from Little Scream, a.k.a. Laurel Sprengelmeyer, is the ultra danceable “Love as a Weapon,” you’d be forgiven — it is a definite summer jam. But you’d also be missing out on the beautiful, twisted collection that is Cult Following, the Iowa-born, Montreal-based songwriter’s sophomore release. “Every disaster has a beautiful start,” sings Sprengelmeyer on “The Kissing,” a track that features the vocals of TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, and a layered standout among songs that feature Sufjan Stevens and Sharon Van Etten. Mary Margaret O’Hara’s vocals make an appearance on the haunting “Wishing Well,” and the full project was produced by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. No one’s calling it a concept album, but Cult Following contains 12 seamless tracks that have collected some dedicated followers.
Posts Tagged ‘Cult Following’
LITTLE SCREAM – ” Love as a Weapon “
Posted: July 2, 2016 in MUSICTags: Cult Following, Iowa, Laurel Sprengelmeyer, Little Scream, Merge Records
LITTLE SCREAM – ” Love as a Weapon “
Posted: March 28, 2016 in MUSICTags: Cult Following, Dine Alone Records, Laurel Sprengelmeyer, Little Scream
From the album Cult Following, out May 6th, 2016 on Merge Records.
Thrilled to announce Little Scream’s sophomore album Cult Following – set for release on May 6th via Dine Alone in Canada and Merge Records in the US. Watch the trippy new video for the album’s first single, “Love as a Weapon”. Directed by Dan Huiting, the video is appropriately vivid for a song that features emotional directives via dance call. The clip effectively captures the essence of the song “scorchingly optimistic venture of blissful enthusiasm that’s impossible to not be elated by.”
Little Scream, a.k.a. Laurel Sprengelmeyer, says she began conceiving of Cult Following while visiting a friend in a small intentional community in northern Brazil that was on the verge of becoming a cult. “People were running around reading auras, interpreting each other’s dreams, and ‘living on light’ instead of eating—which was as compelling as it was absurd. I became very aware of the entropy of belief. You could feel the magnetism of ideas take shape and pull people into their center like a black hole… a thing so filled with light that its own gravity means that none of it can escape.” That experience laid the groundwork for Cult Following, a lush, expansive, retro-leaning gem.
With nods to Tina Turner, Tracey Thorn, and White Album-era Beatles, Cult Following ambitiously straddles intimate fragility with bombastic dancefloor-ready songs. It stuffs glorious eras of art pop into a weird modern package—a far more extroverted expansion of the cinematic landscapes and themes from Little Scream’s previous album. Sprengelmeyer elaborates: “The first record was a ‘bedroom adventure,’ as in, songs you write in your bedroom without a real consciousness of them ever being public. With this record, I was really engaged with what it meant to be a ‘songwriter’ and performer, and pushed myself to go further on all fronts.”
Mary Margaret O’Hara, Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Aaron and Bryce Dessner from the National, Owen Pallett and Kyp Malone all make guest appearances on this album, but the world they inhabit is entirely Little Scream’s. Her voice acts as a tour guide through lush sonic landscapes carefully constructed with her creative partner, Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry.
Cult Following is available for pre-order now on CD and limited-edition translucent blue vinyl from the Dine Alone Record store. Digital pre-order will launch this Friday. Little Scream will tour with Thao & The Get Down Stay Down in April and Land of Talk in May, followed by a run of festival dates.
The Fat Angel Sings 