The New Pornographers Share 'Votive' Video And Announce New Album
(PPR) The New Pornographers' highly anticipated new album The Former Site Of is due 27th March on Merge Records; in celebration of the upcoming release, the band is debuting the album track "Votive" alongside a new video.
Built around the sound of frontperson A.C. Newman's mandolin, "Votive" builds from an atmospheric synth and keyboard opening into a wide-open jam. The video, animated by Michael Arthur, draws on the imagery of Newman's lyrics alongside his and keyboardist/vocalist Kathryn Calder's hooky refrain, "I didn't see you there."
On The Former Site Of, the tenth studio album from the acclaimed supergroup, ten short stories of people at personal and societal extremes are collected as meticulously crafted pop songs. The record was first crafted by Newman in his home studio before being brought to the band, composed of A.C. Newman, Kathryn Calder, Neko Case, John Collins and Todd Fancey. The band is joined for the first time by storied session drummer Charley Drayton (Divinyls, The Rolling Stones, Fiona Apple). Josh Wells (Destroyer, Black Mountain) will join as the touring drummer for the band's upcoming dates in the Spring.
Of the making of the album, Newman shares, "Having time in my studio really opened things up. I don't like wasting my bandmates' time, and always felt guilty when I'd give them a song, ask them to do something, then completely change the song and ask them to do it again. Now I can get the skeleton of a song together first - just a couple of elements, the key feeling, really as little as possible - before bringing it to the band and running from there."
In addition to "Votive", the album features the group's most recent single, "Ballad Of The Last Payphone", which is available as a limited 7-inch vinyl first release and is the subject of acclaim from Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, Stereogum and more. Paste named it one of their Best New Songs, raving that "'Ballad Of The Last Payphone' hits a different kind of nerve. Less giddy power-pop, more slow-burn meditation, the track leans into melancholy with acoustic strums, ghostly pedal steel, and vocals that swirl like a memory you can't quite shake."
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