by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. |
December 09, 2008 1:10 EST
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead has put the finishing touches on its next album, "The Century of Self," which is due Feb. 17. It will be the first release on the band's Richter Scale imprint in conjunction with Justice Records.
The tracks "Bells of Creation" and "Inland Sea," which re-establish the dark, punishing rock of classics like 2002's "Source Tags & Codes," have already been previewed on the "Festival Thyme" EP.
Other highlights include "Pictures of an Only Child," which begins as a subdued wash of sound before bursting into a loud, chugging chorus; the bracing "Far Pavilions," with shouted counterpoint vocals from drummer Jason Reece; and "Fields of Coal," which has an inspirational chorus almost in the vein of an old field worker's song.
Elsewhere, acoustic guitar and piano carry "Luna Park," while "Insatiable" is mostly frontman Conrad Keely and piano. "The Century of Self" was produced by Chris Coady (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and features backing vocal contributions from members of Yeasayer and Dragons Of Zynth.
"On the last two albums, we were really meticulous recording to click-tracks and doing overdubs," Keely told Billboard in August. "This time, we threw all that out. We learned the songs and all tracked live."
A longtime Austin resident, Keely moved to New York a couple years ago and quickly found himself inspired by local bands such as Yeasayer and Dirty Projectors. "Suddenly I was almost overloaded with all this new music, and wondering how we could come close to matching it?," he says. "That inspiration came into a lot of the writing."
Here is the track list for "The Century of Self":
"Giants Causeway"
"Far Pavilions"
"Isis Unveiled"
"Halcyon Days"
"Bells of Creation"
"Fields of Coal"
"Inland Sea"
"Luna Park"
"Pictures of an Only Child"
"Insatiable One"
"Ascending"
"An August Theme"
"Insatiable Two"
The tracks "Bells of Creation" and "Inland Sea," which re-establish the dark, punishing rock of classics like 2002's "Source Tags & Codes," have already been previewed on the "Festival Thyme" EP.
Other highlights include "Pictures of an Only Child," which begins as a subdued wash of sound before bursting into a loud, chugging chorus; the bracing "Far Pavilions," with shouted counterpoint vocals from drummer Jason Reece; and "Fields of Coal," which has an inspirational chorus almost in the vein of an old field worker's song.
Elsewhere, acoustic guitar and piano carry "Luna Park," while "Insatiable" is mostly frontman Conrad Keely and piano. "The Century of Self" was produced by Chris Coady (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and features backing vocal contributions from members of Yeasayer and Dragons Of Zynth.
"On the last two albums, we were really meticulous recording to click-tracks and doing overdubs," Keely told Billboard in August. "This time, we threw all that out. We learned the songs and all tracked live."
A longtime Austin resident, Keely moved to New York a couple years ago and quickly found himself inspired by local bands such as Yeasayer and Dirty Projectors. "Suddenly I was almost overloaded with all this new music, and wondering how we could come close to matching it?," he says. "That inspiration came into a lot of the writing."
Here is the track list for "The Century of Self":
"Giants Causeway"
"Far Pavilions"
"Isis Unveiled"
"Halcyon Days"
"Bells of Creation"
"Fields of Coal"
"Inland Sea"
"Luna Park"
"Pictures of an Only Child"
"Insatiable One"
"Ascending"
"An August Theme"
"Insatiable Two"
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