{"id":14511,"date":"2013-01-07T17:46:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T01:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=14511"},"modified":"2013-01-08T07:47:21","modified_gmt":"2013-01-08T15:47:21","slug":"watchlisten-to-villagers-official-video-for-the-waves-off-impending-new-awayland-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2013-01\/watchlisten-to-villagers-official-video-for-the-waves-off-impending-new-awayland-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch\/Listen to Villagers’ Official Video for “The Waves” Off Impending New “Awayland” Album"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VillagersNewAlbum\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We had lost track of Ireland’s Villagers<\/strong><\/a> for a while.\u00a0 Thanks to a new, sophomore album (Awayland <\/strong>on Domino Records<\/strong>) to be released in the US on April 9th and a newly-surfaced video, they’ve happily been found by us.\u00a0 While every instrument on Villagers’ Mercury Prize-nominated<\/strong> debut album, Becoming a Jackal, <\/strong>was performed nearly-entirely by songwriter-leader Conor J. O’Brien<\/strong> on his own, on Awayland<\/strong> O’Brien encouraged his touring band members to contribute, resulting in a collaborative inventiveness that informs the songs’ arrangements.\u00a0 O’Brien has this to say on the band’s site about the new album:<\/p>\n

“So I sit down at my desk with a blank sheet of paper, a headful of ferrys and a small collection of half-written songs and all I want to do is to stretch my imagination as far as it can go. I sure as hell don’t want to lose any intimacy in the music, but I need to take this intimacy into a more vibrant place. The furrowed-brow vocal seriousness which I used to engage with has no place here.<\/em><\/p>\n

And the musicianship is better than ever. My fellow bandmates make the songs sound as beautiful as they could possibly be. It’s a diverse album. It takes you on a trip through a musical landscape, as a tribute to your sense of wonder. It travels through space and time and leaves you back for dinner. It might take a few gobbles. Maybe try it on headphones first, without interruption. I hope you enjoy.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

All of the foregoing can be heard and seen aplenty in the band’s official video for the inventive new track The Waves<\/strong><\/em> below.\u00a0 The video is beguiling, with O’Brien sounding a bit like Sufjan Stevens (never a bad thing in our book).\u00a0 After, check out the newly-released video for comparatively-straightforward track,\u00a0Nothing<\/strong><\/em> Ar<\/strong>rived<\/strong>, off the imminent album, followed by a live performance of the song.\u00a0 The lyrics to The Waves<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>are at bottom.<\/p>\n