One of the loftiest highlights of last year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival was our long-time fave female singer-songwriter, Brandi Carlile. Carlile simply has the most powerful, yet nuanced, female voice we have ever heard perform live to match her sensational songwriting. Carlile tore the roof of Golden Gate Park at HSB, which is no small feat. You can watch her HSB set HERE.

To get a feel, watch Carlile’s performances this week on Colbert’s Late Show below, replete with superb string-section. First up is the The Joke off of her fantastic recent album, By the Way, I Forgive You.  The song is the lead single off the album, and Carlile wrote it in opposition to today’s sociopolitical malaise. About the song, she told NPR “there are so many people feeling misrepresented. So many people feeling unloved.  Little girls who got so excited for the last election, and are dealing with the fallout. The song is just for people that feel under-represented, unloved or illegal.”

The performances below have everything we want from music: passion, power, poetry (lyrics at bottom) and beauty. If you’re short on time, just listen to Carlile’s otherworldly vocals for 17 seconds at the 3:52 mark of The Joke or for five seconds at the 3:58 mark of Whatever You Do (a web-only video). Wow. The joke’s on them! God bless Brandi Carlile! It’s high-time Carlile becomes a household name across this land.

Go pick up By the Way, I Forgive You and catch her tour HERE.

The Joke:

“You’re feeling nervous, aren’t you, boy?
With your quiet voice and impeccable style
Don’t ever let them steal your joy
And your gentle ways, to keep ’em from running wild
They can kick dirt in your face
Dress you down, and tell you that your place
Is in the middle, when they hate the way you shine
I see you tugging on your shirt
Trying to hide inside of it and hide how much it hurts

Let ’em laugh while they can
Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends
And the joke’s on them

You get discouraged, don’t you, girl?
It’s your brother’s world for a while longer
We gotta dance with the devil on a river
To beat the stream
Call it living the dream, call it kicking the ladder
They come to kick dirt in your face
To call you weak and then displace you
After carrying your baby on your back across the desert
I saw your eyes behind your hair
And you’re looking tired, but you don’t look scared

Let ’em laugh while they can
Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends
And the joke’s on them

Let ’em laugh while they can
Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends
And the joke’s on them.”

Whatever You Do:

“If I don’t owe you a favor, you don’t know me
I don’t believe we’ve ever even met
If there’s a God in heaven, you can show me
Then I guess I should admit I lost the bet
There are moments I could hold you forever
And there are moments that lasted way too long
There are days when I change with the weather
To hold you in place would be wrong

There’s a road left behind me that I’d rather not speak of
And a hard one ahead of me, too
I love you, whatever you do
But I got a life to live, too

I never met a morning I could get through
With nothing on my breath to hold the night
And I never said I’m sorry, but I meant to
I never met a coward I don’t like
There are reasons why a body stays in motion
But at the moment, only demons come to mind
There are days when I could walk into the ocean
With no one else but you to leave behind

There’s a road left behind me that I’d rather not speak of
And a hard one ahead of me, too
I love you, whatever you do
But I got a life to live, too
There’s a road left behind me that I’d rather not speak of
And a hard one ahead of me, too
I love you, whatever you do
But I got a life to live, too”

On Friday Talking Heads maestro, David Byrne, released his superb new album, American Utopia, and appeared on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show to perform single Everybody’s Coming to My House. Watch below as Byrne and his 11-piece backing band roamed all over Colbert’s studio, including while surrounding Colbert’s desk with Colbert participating. It’s a rollicking performance of a great and timely song, and we can’t wait to catch Byrne and band at the Santa Barbara Bowl on August 24th.

Byrne’s supporting world tour runs until mid-September. Check out the dates below.

David Byrne 2018 Tour Dates:

03/10 – Kingston, NY @ Ulster Performing Arts Center
03/16 – Santiago, CL @ Lollapalooza Chile
03/18 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Lollapalooza Argentina
03/19 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Teatro Gran Rex
03/20 – Montevido, UY @ Teatro de Verano
03/22 – Porto Alegre, BR @ Pepsi On Stage
03/23-25 – Sao Paulo, BR @ Lollapalooza Brasil
03/26 – Curitiba, BR @ Teatro Positivo
03/28 – Rio de Janerio, BR @ Km De Vantagens Hall
03/29 – Belo Horizonte, BR @ Km De Vantagens Hall
04/03 – Mexico City MX @ Metropolitan Theater
04/05 – Monterrey MX @ Auditorio Pabellón M
04/07 – Guadalajara, MX @ Corona Capital Guadalajara
04/12 – San Diego, CA @ San Diego Civic Centre
04/14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/15 – Tucson, AZ @ Centennial Hall
04/17 – San Diego, CA @ San Diego Civic Theater
04/18 – Las Vegas, NV @ Smith Center for the Arts
04/19 – Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center-Ikeda Theater
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/24 – Dallas, TX @ Winspear Opera House %
04/25 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion %
04/27 – San Antonio, TX @ Tobin Center for the Performing Arts %
04/28 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Outside Lawn %
04/29 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz Fest
05/04 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival
05/05 – Memphis, TN @ Beale Street Music Festival
05/06 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
05/08 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Civic Auditorium
05/09 – Charlotte, NC @ Ovens Auditorium
05/10 – Durham, NC @ Durham PAC
05/12 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
05/13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Benedum Center for the Arts
05/15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
05/16 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
05/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theater
05/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theater
05/19 – Saskatoon, SASK @ TCU Place
05/20 – Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
05/21 – Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
05/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theater
05/24 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater
05/25-26 – George, WA @ Sasquatch! Music Festival
05/27 – Portland, OR @ Keller Audiorium
05/28 – Eugene, OR @ Hult Center
05/30 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Capitol Theatre
06/01 – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theater #
06/02 – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theater
06/03 – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theater
06/05 – Des Moines, IA @ Des Moines Civic Center
06/07 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Center for the Arts
06/08 – St. Louis, MO @ Peabody Opera House
06/09 – Indianapolis, IN @ Farmers Bureau Lawn Amphitheater
06/14 – Oxford, UK @ New Theatre *
06/15 – Glasgow, UK @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall *
06/17 – Birmingham, UK @ Birmingham Symphony Hall *
06/18 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Apollo *
06/19 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo *
06/20 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo *
06/22-23 – Prague, CZ @ Metronome Festival
06/25 – Zagreb, HR @ INmusic Festival
06/26 – Wien, AT @ Museumsquartier
06/29-07/01 – Ewijk, NL @ Down The Rabbit Hole
07/05 – Gdynia, PL @ Open’er Festival
07/06 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/08 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/11 – Oeiras, PT @ Cool Jazz Festival
07/13 – Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Live Festival
07/14 – Barcelona, ES @ Cruilla Barcelona
07/17 – Zürich, CH @ Theater 11
07/19 – Ravenna, IT @ Ravenna Festival
07/20 – Perugia, IT @ Umbria Jazz Festival
07/21 – Trieste, IT @ Piazza UNita
07/27 – Camden, NJ @ XPoNential Music Festival
07/29 – New York, NY @ Panorama Music Festival
07/31 – Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
08/01 – Shelburne, VT @ Shelburne Museum – The Green
08/03 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Center for the Performing Arts
08/04 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Center for the Performing Arts
08/05 – Canandaigua, NY @ Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
08/07 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautcia
08/08 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Devos Performance Hall
08/10 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theater
08/11 – Huber Heightes, OH @ Rose Music Center
08/12 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion at Riverbend
08/16 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
08/17 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
08/18 – San Jose, CA @ City National Civic Auditorium
08/21 – Sacramento CA @ Community Theater
08/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
08/24 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
08/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
08/27 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater
08/28 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater
09/15 – Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium ^
09/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre ^

% = w/ Perfume Genius
# = w/ Benjamin Clementine
* = w/ Laura Mvula
^ = w/ tUnE-yArds

Long-time Lefort-fave Neko Case has unveiled the title-track of her impending new album, Hell-On, to be released June 1st by Anti-. You can read below the italicized precis of Ms. Case’s new album, which can be pre-ordered HERE.  We can’t wait!

As you will hear below, the new song is a musically-complex and beguiling affair filled with intelligence, pluck and poesy (see lyrics at bottom), all trademarks of Ms. Case, including the following inspirational verses:

“God is a lusty tire fire
Its bristles scrape and strike the stage
A rock, paper, scissors’ rage
Have mercy on the natural world”

and:

“My voice is a fracture
For shinbone’s lust
Pounding barefoot ground
It lifts you up and sits you just
Just at sorrow’s waterline”

Ms. Case on the new album:

“My name is Neko Case. I am a music producer, songwriter, and musician. I just finished a record called Hell-On with a cast of talented musicians, techs, label folks, and friends.

“What I want you to know about me isn’t too much, nor do I want to over talk it. What you take away on your own, as a listener is most important. I worked really hard and I was present for every second of this project. Producing a record is a huge task and there were times I was deep in the weeds, but that is normal for a record that takes a year plus. The weeds aren’t so bad. There were a lot of break-through moments, belly-laughs, sleepless nights, and grubby, shiny jeans. In the end it was all worth it and I am so proud of how it turned out, and I am so grateful to have worked with such dedicated, giving artists to make it happen.

“There were a few challenges during the making of this record from small (scheduling difficulties, and occasional miscommunication) to large (my house burning down while I was overseas.) But none of them are the story of this recording, the songs are the story. They are my best self. They are everything I’ve worked for since I was a kid, whether I knew it or not. I write songs from a feeling of solidarity with folks who feel alone or isolated, I think I’m trying to comfort people in this way. It’s not a forceful way rather ‘no commitment necessary;’ take it if you want it, take it as you can. My style is odd, I don’t know what genre this is. I don’t have a pretty voice or a trained voice, and I am constantly disappointed that I don’t have a ‘tough’ voice, no matter how hard I practice, but it’s mine, and for all its loud, heavy-handed, nasal, vibrato-less qualities I accept it. The closest sound I have found to compare it to is Bulgarian Folk singing. My Eastern ancestors could have been proud of me a century ago? I could have been a droning ‘caller of wasps’ perhaps? I just invented that job, I like the sound of it.

“The songs are who I believe myself to be and that will change, but for now that’s how it is and I’m very satisfied with that.”

Hell-On Tracklist:

Last Lion Of Albion
Halls of Sarah
Bad Luck
Curse of the I-5 Corridor
Gumball Blue
Dirty Diamond
Oracle Of The Maritime
Winnie
Sleep All Summer
My Uncle’s Navy
Pitch Or Honey

Hell-On lyrics:

“God is not a contract or a guy
God is an unspecified tide
You cannot time its tables
It sets no glass or gables
God is a lusty tire fire
Its bristles scrape and strike the stage
A rock, paper, scissors’ rage
Have mercy on the natural world

My voice is not the liquid waves
The perfect rings around a heron’s legs
My voice is straight garroting wire
A stolen mile of fingerprints
Peeled the quiet from the dunes
Captured and re-spooled as ruin to be used
At a different time

My voice is a fracture
For shinbone’s lust
Pounding barefoot ground
It lifts you up and sits you just
Just at sorrow’s waterline
I drape you on tomorrow’s plate
Fair as metal, marrow spilling
Not yours but mine
I’m an agent of the natural world

Don’t you tell me I didn’t warn you
That that’s some gravity you ought not to play with
Don’t you tell me I didn’t warn you
That that’s some gravity you ought not to play with

Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise

And me, I am not a mess
I am a wilderness, yes
The undiscovered continent for you to undress
But you’ll not be my master
You’re barely my guest
You don’t have permission to take any pictures
Be careful of the natural world

Nature can’t amend its ways
Boils along and then replays
Despite heartfelt springtimes of regret
The storms she still cries for days
Have mercy on the natural world”

Long-time Lefort fave Laura Veirs will release her new album The Lookout on April 13th on Raven Marching Band Records. After debuting the album’s impressive single Everybody Needs You (listen below), Veirs today has shared new song Watch Fire featuring Sufjan Stevens. Check it out below along with the song’s lyrics at bottom.  About the new song, Veirs has said:

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard wolves howling in the wild but there’s no mistaking their sound. It’s nothing like the howling of wind; it’s much more eerie and sinister. “Watch Fire” is about protecting the vulnerable among us and how I feel vulnerable, too, in this political climate. You can hear that in the lyric ‘underneath this dome of red / white dog circling overhead.’ It was an honor to have Sufjan sing on this track as I admire him a lot. I heard his voice on this song when I wrote it. We’ve been friends for a long time and he’s given me quite a few artistic pep talks over the years. I sang on his Carrie & Lowell sessions so it’s nice to have him on my record this time around.”

According to the album’s PR release: “The Lookout is a soundtrack for turbulent times, full of allusions to protectors: the camper stoking a watch fire, a mother tending her children, a sailor in a crow’s nest and a lightning rod channeling energy.”

Veirs has this to say about her new album: “The Lookout is about the need to pay attention to the fleeting beauty of life and to not be complacent; it’s about the importance of looking out for each other. I’m addressing what’s happening around me with the chaos of post-election America, the racial divides in our country, and a personal reckoning with the realities of midlife: I have friends who’ve died; I struggle with how to balance life as an artist with parenting young children.”

Based on the two songs released from it so far, and following in the impressive wake of her album with Neko Case and kd Lang, case/lang/veirs, The Lookout is highly anticipated at Chez Lefort.

You can pre-0rder The Lookout HERE.

Watch Fire:

“Just beyond the circle of light
(I’ll keep the watch)
(I’ll keep the watch fire)
What’s in the gloom
In the thorns and the briar?
(I’ll keep the watch)
(I’ll keep the watch fire)

There’s no mistaking the wolf for the wind
He’s been here before
And he’ll be here again

In my dream I ground my jaw
(I’ll keep the watch)
(I’ll keep the watch fire)
I’ll be the good man outside the law
(I’ll keep the watch)
(I’ll keep the watch fire)

There’s no mistaking the wolf for the wind
He’s been here before
And he’ll be here again

Underneath this dome of red
(I’ll keep the watch)
(I’ll keep the watch fire)
White dog circling overhead
(I’ll keep the watch)
(I’ll keep the watch fire)

There’s no mistaking the wolf for the wind
He’s been here before
And he’ll be here again

There’s no mistaking the wolf for the wind
He’s been here before
And he’ll be here again”

In the wake of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Americans seem to have finally galvanized behind a powerful and heartbreaking speech given by that school’s Emma Gonzalez (you can watch it HERE) and the outcry and actions from her classmates and countless other students and parents across the nation against the maleficent inability of our political “leaders” to meaningfully control guns in America. The madness must end or be meaningfully reduced! No other nation suffers a similar affliction! The damnable NRA gun-manufacturers’ lobby must be stopped and its political prostitutes (see one list HERE) must pay for the blood on their complicit hands. Let’s not let this just be one more in an endless string of shootings and killings. Let’s cut the cord. Come one, come all and march on March 24th, April 20th and any and all other days necessary towards this goal. Let’s work to register voters and then get out the vote to toss out the NRA’s political henchmen and begin to make meaningful change.

In the aftermath of this latest atrocity, we were struck (yet again) over the weekend by a performance by the PS22 Chorus. This time of their take on The Pretenders’ I’ll Stand By You (lyrics at bottom). Watch it below in all its sweet glory. And then imagine these innocent children slaughtered by yet another automatic-weapons wielding psychopath. Yes, it seems unimaginable. But in America, as sure as the day becomes night, if we don’t throw out the NRA’s accomplices and things don’t meaningfully change, Parkland (following Sandy Hook, Columbine, etc. ad nauseam) will happen again. And again. Let’s not let that happen!

“Oh, why you look so sad, the tears are in your eyes,
Come on and come to me now, and don’t be ashamed to cry,
Let me see you through, ’cause I’ve seen the dark side too.
When the night falls on you, you don’t know what to do,
Nothing you confess could make me love you less,

I’ll stand by you,
I’ll stand by you, won’t let nobody hurt you,
I’ll stand by you

So if you’re mad, get mad, don’t hold it all inside,
Come on and talk to me now.
Hey there, what you got to hide?
I get angry too, well, I’m alive like you.
When you’re standing at the cross roads,
And don’t know which path to choose,
Let me come along, ’cause even if you’re wrong

I’ll stand by you,
I’ll stand by you, won’t let nobody hurt you,
I’ll stand by you.
Baby, even to your darkest hour, and I’ll never desert you,
I’ll stand by you.
And when, when the night falls on you baby,
You’re feeling all a lone, you’re wandering on your own,
I’ll stand by you.

I’ll stand by you, won’t let nobody hurt you,
I’ll stand by you, baby even to your darkest hour,
And I’ll never desert you,
I’ll stand by you,
I’ll stand by you.
I’ll stand by you, won’t let nobody hurt you,
I’ll stand by you, baby even to your darkest hour,
And I’ll never desert you
I’ll stand by you”

Frank Ocean’s indelible music can creep up on you like, well, a moon rising over a river.  First you’re engrossed by the enlightening hues of his vocals, followed by the shimmering effects thereon. It’s a winning package repeatedly borne out on his recordings. This week Ocean released (on Valentine’s Day) his winsome, yet world-weary, take on the moody chestnut Moon River written by the masterful Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. The song was originally heard in the sad, sad film Breakfast at Tiffany’s and made most famous by crooner Andy Williams. Check out Ocean’s superb cover of the song below, followed by the song’s breathy cover by Audrey Hepburn in the movie, and Williams’ worthy take. The song has been covered by countless artists, but Ocean’s takes it to the heavens.

Woke on Monday morning and found a reason to get out of bed. Long-time Lefort-faves, Okkervil River, this morning announced the release of their next album In the Rainbow Rain in April, following on the heals of their superb last album Away.  To get a feel, check out below the swaggering swing of new song, Don’t Move Back to LA (that drops a bit of dub in the break). The intermittently hilarious lyrics are at bottom (our best guess). The song bodes incredibly well for the new album. We can’t wait!

Today, leader Will Sheff posted this explanatoin regarding the song: “I had pretty straightforward reasons for writing this song: I had a lot of friends all moving to LA around the same time and I didn’t want them to go. I think the song is also me rooting for myself to get out of NYC, and I feel like it’s also kind of about how you could make your hometown cooler if you went back and fought to elevate it. But one fun audio fact is that this is a first take. We recorded it once, it sounded good and we moved on to the next song.”

Sheff also has this to say about the impending album:

“This time around everyone was in such a good mood that the music ended up capturing this new spirit of freedom and playfulness and joy and sounding totally different than Away, even though my working approach was similar. I didn’t really fight it, because everything felt so good. It was a really happy and productive period of music-making during a very terrifying (and ongoingly terrifying) time period, and I felt like it was appropriate to try to make something uplifting and encouraging. As ever, the band is augmented with all of these great players including string arrangements by Rob Moose, Frank LoCrasto and Jared Samuel on keys, Sharon Jones’ backup singer Saundra Williams leading a vocal trio, Alex Spiegelman on sax and Cole Kamen-Green on trumpet, the legendary Jonathan Meiburg of course, and my good old inanimate friend Mr. CR-78 laying down some rhythms here and there. The whole thing was mixed by the incredible Shawn Everett with crazy bold hairy technicolor bravado. I’m so proud of this thing – it’s maybe the most fun Okkervil River record ever. And it’s going to be great playing it live.”

Speaking of which, new tour dates can be found HERE . The tour will include dates in Cali in late-May/early-June, where it’s 70 out and we’re living at the ocean’s lip.  Tix go on sale this Friday, 2/16. Whatever you do, don’t miss ’em. Their last two tours through these parts have been inspirational affairs.

You can pre-order In the Rainbow Room HERE.

Don’t Move Back to LA:

“Don’t move back to LA
Don’t move back to LA
Don’t move back to LA
Although it’s 70 out
Don’t move back to LA
You got a bigger house
Don’t move back to LA
I know you’re sober now
Don’t move back to LA, my baby
In your place out in LA, my baby

I’m gonna send this out to Mistress Smike [?]
She knows who she is and what I like
I’m gonna send this out to Susan Sneeze
I’m gonna say thirty rosaries
I’m gonna tell her

Don’t move back to LA
Don’t get your license back
Don’t move back to LA
Don’t cut your in-take back
Don’t move back to LA
You think it’s bad?
It’s actually worse out in LA, my baby

‘Cause those West Coast cats
They’re gonna tune, gonna turn, gonna turn, gonna turn you out
They’re gonna chew you up and spit you out
They’re gonna break, gonna break, gonna break, gonna break you down
They’re gonna waste your time and watch you drown
They’re gonna make, gonna make, gonna make, gonna make you die
You say I lost my soul or sold it out
But I told you, I warned you
I told you, I warned you
I told you now

Well, in two more weeks I’ll drop this track
And you can have your New York City back
Well, I will send this out to Space Camp Chip
I saw him living on the ocean’s lip
And I will send this to a lone Hot Crisp
He might not agree, but I’ll insist

And I will tell him
Don’t move back to LA
I said I’ll move back to LA
You got a midwest song so sing it out
Don’t move back to LA
You got a deep south song so sing it out
Don’t move back to LA
You got a mountain song, just sing it out
I got a east coast song, I’ll sing it out
Don’t move back to LA
I won’t move back to LA
my baby
Don’t move back to LA

They’re gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune, gonna tune you out
Don’t move back to LA
You got a beach state song, country state song, wolverine state song
They’re gonna break, gonna break, gonna break, gonna break you down
Don’t move back to LA
So sing it out
Or fight it out, sing it out
They’re gonna make, gonna make, gonna make, gonna make you die
Oh
Don’t move back to LA”

We first caught on to awesome Aussie band Middle Kids in January of last year. Their ability to write catchy, subtly-clever songs and to perform them with verve was evident from go. The trio today brings news of their debut album, Lost Friends, and gives us a video for their catchy new single Mistake. The song is just what you need to get you through the day. Check out director Onil Kotian’s video below.

About the album, lead singer Hannah Joy says: ““In a time where a lot of division is growing, we want to be part of the conversation that unites people around certain ideals that are universal, like hope and love. That’s so much a thread throughout this album: Even though things are tough, it’s worth believing in something good and in the idea that we can heal. And in some ways, I wanted the music to be beautiful and a respite from what’s going on.”

Amen to that!

We can’t wait for Lost Friends, which is out May 4th on Domino Records. You can pre-order it HERE.

Photo Credit: Maclay Heriot

Long-time Lefort-faves The Decemberists are back with new song Severed from their impending new album I’ll Be Your Girl to be released on March 16th on Capitol Records. Just as exciting, the band announced that they will be touring and playing the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, their first ever visit to these environs. You can check out their tour dates and get tickets HERE.

According to the band’s press release, the band sought to mix it up and reach for something beyond their (phenomenal) standard textures on I’ll Be Your Girl:

“We recorded the eleven-ish songs during the early fall in Portland, Oregon, with noted producer and ailurophile John Congleton. You perhaps may be familiar with some of the work he’s done with such bands as St. Vincent, Lana del Rey, Wye Oak, Angel Olsen, Swans — oh, everybody, really. He’s a bit of a goer, production-wise. The songs tend to the darker, more absurdist side of things —  I mean, how can you blame us — and features a lot of nice vintage synth work by Jenny and Chris, some heavy drumming from Mr. Moen and, of course, the sort of baroque bass work you’ve come to expect from the former Mr. Lincoln High, Nate Query. All in all, everyone acquitted themselves quite nicely.”

Evidently, while working on the new material, the band discussed additional musical influences, such as Roxy Music and early glam music, and Meloy has described the album’s mood as “exuberant nihilism” to reflect these times.

Watch the Severed video below. The song is a sound update of The Decemberists’ musical motifs, with added analog-synth lead a la New Order or Depeche Mode, with autocratic, POTUS-inspired lyrics and heavenly harmonies. It’s a beauty that bodes incredibly well for the new album.

You can pre-order I’ll Be Your Girl HERE.  Severed’s lyrics are at bottom.

Severed:

“I alight like a whisper
I alight with the lights out
And it won’t take me long just to find you
And it won’t take me long just to find you

I’m allied to the winter
But don’t you get clever
Don’t you get clever
I’m allied to the landslide
Gonna leave you all severed
Gonna leave you all severed

I alone am the answer
I alone will make wrongs right
But in order to root out the cancer
It’s got to be kept from the sight

I’m allied to the winter
But don’t you get clever
Don’t you get clever
I’m allied to the landslide
Gonna leave you all severed
Gonna leave you all severed

I was born in a whiteout
Gonna smother you all till I choke you
Gonna smother you all till you kick out

I’m allied to the winter
But don’t you get clever
Don’t you get clever
I’m allied to the landslide
Gonna leave you all severed
Gonna leave you all severed”