VILLAGERS
‘Where Have You Been All My Life?’ out January 8, 2016
Listen to ‘Memoir’ HERE
Artwork for ‘Where Have You Been All My Life?’
The need to stop pretending-to admitting one’s deepest insecurities and wants-seems central to Darling Arithmetic, an album that delivers a gorgeous, if somewhat restrained, step forward.
– PITCHFORK
“O’Brien wisely keeps Darling Arithmetic’s arrangements subtle and skeletal, giving each the space it needs in order to breathe, rest and seep under the skin”
– NPR, First Listen
“For the third Villagers album, “Darling Arithmetic,” Mr. O’Brien has scaled back radically, turning out something that resembles an old-fashioned folk-rock confessional. On the opener and lead single, “Courage,” he strums an acoustic guitar with a country lilt that calls Neil Young’s “Harvest” to mind.”
– NY TIMES
Where Have You Been All My Life?, to be released on January 8, 2016, is a collection of songs that distils five years and three albums of Villagers‘ songwriting into one flowing narrative.
Recorded in one day at London’s RAK Studio with Richard Woodcraft (Radiohead, The Last Shadow Puppets) and Villagers live engineer Ber Quinn, the album is a re-imagining of older material seamlessly woven with present glories from Villagers’ most recent studio album, Darling Arithmetic.
Released in April 2015, Conor O’Brien‘s third album under the guise of Villagers was a more pared-back, intimate journey compared to the multi-faceted arrangements of Becoming A Jackal (2010) and {Awayland} (2013). This fresh approach was extended on subsequent Villagers tours, where old songs were reinvented to match the new. Then for one day in July 2015, 18 songs were quickly captured and 12 songs chosen for the final album, making it Villagers’ most intense, but satisfying, session to date. These recordings are all first or second takes, and the immediacy of the occasion was part of the magic that day, live and unadorned by overdubs or studio trickery.
The unique nature of these arrangements is due in no small part to the musicians in the room at the time of recording: Cormac Curran on grand piano and analogue synthesizer, Danny Snow on double bass, Mali Llywelyn on harp, mellotron and vocals, and Gwion Llewelyn on drums, flugelhorn and vocals. The result is a lush, harmony-laden and vibrant document of a time and a place.
Included in the album is a new recording of ‘Memoir’, which O’Brien wrote for Charlotte Gainsbourg; it can be found on her 2011 album Stage Whisper, but has never before been recorded by Villagers until now.
‘Where Have You Been All My Life?’ will be available on LP, CD, digitally and deluxe LP (green coloured vinyl with two bonus tracks on the download card, ‘Pieces’ & ‘No-one to Blame’). Pre-order the album from Dom Mart HERE and iTunes HERE.
The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Set the Tigers Free
2. Everything I Am is Yours
3. My Lighthouse
4. Courage
5. That Day
6. The Soul Serene
7. Memoir
8. Hot Scary Summer
9. The Waves
10. Darling Arithmetic
11. So Naive
12. Wichita Lineman
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Fresh off the back of North American tour dates as special guest to Paul Weller and John Grant, today Villagers announce an extensive UK and European tour for January and February 2016.
Villagers’ Conor O’Brien has also been invited to perform again as part of ‘In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited’, which premiered at The Barbican in London in 2014. A landmark live tribute to the songs and music from the legendary filmmaker, David Lynch. More info is available HERE.
Full live dates are below. All tickets are available via Villagers official website HERE. Ticket and album bundles also available HERE.
In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited:
18 November: Ireland – Dublin – NATIONAL CONCERT HALL
19 November: UK: Bristol – COLSTON HALL
21 November: France, Paris – PHILHARMONIE
22 November: France, Paris: PHILHARMONIE
23 November: France, Nantes: CITE DES CONGRES
Villagers live dates:
31 October: Spain – Bilbao – Bime Festival
27 November: Portugal – Lisbon – Mexe Festival
28 November: Austria – Vienna – Bluebird Festival
13 December: Germany, Berlin – Stargaze Long Weekender
26 January: UK – Belfast – ‘Out to Lunch Festival’ – The MAC Theatre
28 January: Ireland – Dublin – Vicar Street
29 January: Ireland – Galway – Black Box
30 January: Ireland – Cork – Savoy
1 February: UK – Newcastle – Sage Gateshead
2 February: UK – Glasgow – Oran Mor Auditorium
3 February: UK – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
5 February: UK – Manchester – Gorilla
6 February: UK – Sheffield – Leadmill
7 February: UK – Birmingham – Glee Club
8 February: UK – Oxford – Academy 2
10 February: UK – Bath – Komedia
11 February: UK – London – Shepherds Bush Empire
12 February: UK – Brighton – St Georges Church / Concorde 2
13 February: UK – Ashford – St Mary’s Church
15 February: Belgium – Brussels – La Madeleine
16 February: Holland – Amsterdam – Paradiso North
18 February: Holland – Zwolle – Hedon
19 February: Germany – Dusseldorf – Zakk
20 February: Germany – Munich – Strom
22 February: Germany – Berlin – Postbahnhof
23 February: Germany – Frankfurt – Zoom
25 February: France – Paris – La Maroquinerie
26 February: France – Rouen – 106
28 February: France – Nantes – Stereolux
Villagers in RAK Studios, photo credit: Niall Cullinane
For more information please contact:
The Planet Of Sound 