{"id":25999,"date":"2016-05-19T12:53:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-19T20:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=25999"},"modified":"2016-05-19T12:53:17","modified_gmt":"2016-05-19T20:53:17","slug":"new-okkervil-river-album-away-coming-listen-to-elegiac-new-song-okkervil-river-r-i-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2016-05\/new-okkervil-river-album-away-coming-listen-to-elegiac-new-song-okkervil-river-r-i-p\/","title":{"rendered":"New Okkervil River Album “Away” Coming–Listen to Elegiac New Song “Okkervil River R.I.P.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of our all-time favorite “indie artists,”\u00a0Okkervil River<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0will release a\u00a0new album entitled\u00a0Away<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0in September on ATO<\/strong>. \u00a0Per leader Will Sheff’s<\/strong> press release, the album embodies a traumatic,\u00a0transitional period for Sheff<\/strong>, which entailed the loss of his grandfather and various band member changes.\u00a0“I wrote the songs during a confusing time of transition in my personal and professional life and recorded them quickly with a brand new group of musicians,” said Sheff<\/strong>. \u00a0Sheff<\/strong> continues: “2013-2015 has been a strange time for me. I lost some connections in a music industry that was visibly falling apart. Some members of the Okkervil River<\/strong> backing band left, moving on to family life or to their own projects. I spent a good deal of time sitting in hospice with my grandfather, who was my idol, while he died. I didn’t know where I belonged. Eventually, I realized I was writing a death story for a part of my life that had, buried inside of it, a path I could follow that might let me go somewhere new.”<\/p>\n

The album will consist of nine songs (listed below) that were apparently written over a three-day, fever-dream period at an empty house in the Catskills and subsequently recorded in a Long\u00a0Island studio. Sheff<\/strong> was assisted by the likes of Marissa Nadler<\/strong>, composer\/arranger\u00a0Nathan Thatcher,\u00a0<\/strong>former Okkervil River <\/strong>(and now Shearwater<\/strong>) member Jonathan Meiburg<\/strong>, and classical troupe\u00a0yMusic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To get a feel, check out the elegiac and emotion-filled album-opening track\u00a0Okkervil River R.I.P.<\/strong> <\/em>below. It’s a fantastic, form-fitting song that builds and flies away during its nearly seven-minutes, and bodes incredibly well for the new album. “They had some great songs, must have been a great time so long ago.” Thankfully, those times aren’t over for Okkervil River<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Okkervil River<\/strong>\u00a0will kick off a tour on June 30th in Austin, TX, in support of (and ahead of) the new album. \u00a0Check the dates below.<\/p>\n