New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On August 19, the New England based Arc Iris will release a new album called Moon Saloon. Produced by the group and mixed by electronic producer
David Wrench of FKA Twigs and
Caribou fame, the album showcases beat-heavy melodies and textural, groove-riding rhythms.
Today, SPIN premiered "Paint With The Sun," the second song to be released from the forthcoming album. Writer Matt Malone said "The Providence-based trio writes astronomical music, with vast diversity in instrumentation, lyrical themes, and melodies," and continues, "With the mythologizing pen of
Joanna Newsom and the brass sections of Florence and the Machine, Arc Iris widens a story to a moral epic."
Stream the track via Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/bella-union/arc-iris-paint-with-the-sun-new
"'Paint with the Sun' is one of the first real co-writes within the band. Zach and I wrote this song together. The process sparked the beginning of a tighter partnership that will continue to shape Arc Iris for years to come," said Jocie Adams about the song. "'Paint with the Sun' is about a boy who plays the piano at a soup kitchen. There is a woman at the soup kitchen who always comes to see him. One day the woman asks him for a ride home. He saw how sad, messy and lonely her home was and decided to come back every week to clean it and paint her walls. As cheesy as it sounds, we hoped to communicate the importance of good deeds and the sweeping impression that they have on society."
Recently, Stereogum premiered the video for "Kaleidoscope" and said the track "melds syncopated boom-bap drums, multi-layered classical flourishes, wandering synths, ringing guitars and Adams� pure, beautiful voice for a constantly reengaging, regenerative excursion."
Watch the video via YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdQAPy-yvM0
Moon Saloon developed from the band�s distillations of musical influences, combining traditional elements with percussive structures and dense, beguiling harmonies. In many ways this second album captures Arc Iris� musical odyssey as a band. �It has a heavier sound, more intense,� says Arc Iris keyboardist Zach Tenorio-Miller, who makes liberal use of sampling in many of the songs. The group matches an unusual array of organic acoustic instruments with layered electronic sounds.
Lead singer and lyricist Jocie Adams, Tenorio-Miller, and drummer Ray Belli form the core of Arc Iris, all virtuosic musicians in their own right. Adams spent eight years as a key member of indie darlings The Low Anthem, effortlessly zipping from hammer dulcimer to clarinet to bass to vocals, sometimes barely pausing to take a breath. As the band members see it, Moon Saloon works like a song cycle that parallels the arc of Everyman�s passage through modern day dilemmas. According to Adams: �The album is meant to be cathartic. There�s an imbalance in everyone�s lives. When there�s often so much going on, we yearn for simplicity.�
Adams wrote most of the songs during a songwriting retreat on an island in New Hampshire�s Lake Winnipesaukee several months before the recording session. For Adams, it was a week-long creative rush with no electricity, no running water, no cell phones�just a bed in a cabin and an acoustic guitar. She took her work back to Providence, where she and Tenorio-Miller worked on the songs, layering sounds, developing ideas, �transforming them into the world of Arc Iris,� Tenorio-Miller recalls.
Arc Iris has just announced a US and European tour. Find the full list of dates below. Moon Saloon is currently available for pre-order at www.arcirismusic.com.
Track List:
1) Kaleidoscope
2) Kingdom Come
3) Paint With The Sun
4) Pretending
5) She Arose
6) Lilly
7) Johnny
8) Saturation Brain
9) Rainy Days
10) Moon Saloon
Tour Dates:
8/13 - Providence, RI - Foofest
9/7 - New Haven, CT - Cafe Nine*
9/8 - Willimantic, CT - The Eclectic
9/9 - Elizabethtown, NY - Otis Mountain Getdown
9/10 - Plymouth, VT - Popolo: The Great Outdoors
9/14 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot and Saddle*
9/16 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd
Music House*
9/18 - Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse
9/19 - Asheville, NC - The Mothlight
9/20 - Carrboro, NC -- Cat's Cradle
9/28 - Columbus, OH - Scarlet & Grey
9/30 - Pittsburgh PA - Pittsburgh Winery
10/1 - Cleveland, OH - Mechanic Street Concerts
10/6 - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade*
10/9 - Ashfield, MA - Signature
Sounds Presents at the Ashfield Lake House
10/12 - Portland, ME -
State Theatre Presents at Empire*
10/13 - Cambridge, MA - Lizard Lounge*
10/14 - Providence, RI - Columbus Theatre*
10/15 - Burlington, VT - Signal Kitchen*
10/16 - Ossipee, NH - Three Pork Hill*
10/22 - Paris, FR - Le Pop-Up Du Label
10/24 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Kleine Zaal
10/25 - Brussels, BE - Botanique
10/27 - Brighton, UK - The Green Door Store
10/28 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Games Room
10/29 - Manchester, UK - Sound Control
10/30 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast
11/1 - Bristol, UK - The Louisiana
11/2 - London, UK - Hoxton
Square Bar & Kitchen
11/17 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
11/18 - Dallas, TX -
Double Wide
11/22 - Albuquerque, NM - Tortuga Gallery
11/26 - Phoenix, AZ -
Rebel Lounge
*with Superhuman Happiness
