New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Astronauts, etc. (the solo project of Toro y Moi keyboardist Anthony Ferraro) shared a third track from his forthcoming sophomore album Living In Symbol today; "Shut My Mouth" is a meditative ode to silence that finds Ferraro singing, "I want to be quiet / Wanna shut my mouth / Hear there's nothing like it / You can hear yourself."
Living In Symbol - which was co-produced by Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi and includes the previously released singles "The Border" and "The Room" - is out July 27 on Company Records; it is available for pre-order now via Company and streaming services.
Astronauts, etc. is thrilled to announce a North American tour in support of Living In Symbol. All dates are with The Mattson 2 and tickets are available now.
8/14: Cellar Door - Visalia, CA
8/15: SOHO -
Santa Barbara, CA
8/16: The Chapel - San Francisco, CA
8/17: Lodge Room - Los Angeles, CA
8/19: Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ
8/22: Rockafeller's - Houston, TX
8/23: Three Links - Dallas, TX
8/24: Mohawk - Austin, TX
8/25: Opolis - Norman, OK
8/26: Firebird - St. Louis, MO
8/27: The Basement - Nashville, TN
8/31: Cat's Cradle (back room) - Raleigh, NC
9/01: The Camel - Richmond, VA
9/05: Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA
9/06: Songbyrd - Washington DC
9/07: Rough Trade - Brooklyn, NY
9/08: Cafe 939 - Boston, MA
9/10: The
Drake - Toronto, ON
9/11: Loving Touch - Detroit, MI
9/12: Schubas - Chicago, IL
9/13:
Square Cat Vinyl - Indianapolis, IN
9/14: Ruby - Madison, WI
9/15: Door County Brewing Co. - Door County, WI
9/17: Turf Club - Twin Cities, MN
9/19: Lost Lake - Denver, CO
9/20:
State Room - Salt Lake City, UT
9/21: Jack London - Portland, OR
9/23: Wise Hall - Vancouver, BC
9/25: Barboza - Seattle, WA
PRAISE FOR LIVING IN SYMBOL:
"A thoughtful, gentle project whose soul-plucking instrumentation will put you right in your feelings." - The Fader
"There's a refined nature to Ferraro's delivery, alongside 70's soul and 60's tropicalia vibes." - Paste
"'The Room' is a lilting, exotica-tinged waltz, its dreamy weightlessness and lush instrumentation transporting us out of place and time." - Gorilla Vs. Bear
Tony Peppers (aka Astronauts, etc., née Anthony Ferraro) lives just outside of time. His best friend's father told him in the 4th grade that he was really an old man. It makes some sense, then, that he was diagnosed with arthritis at age 10 and dropped out of school at 20 because he really needed to think things over. He still is, but at 27 Tony has some things to say, and he's saying them on his new album, Living in Symbol.
It's been a circuitous seven years for the Oakland-based classical pianist turned pop arranger. Between stints on the road with Toro y Moi, he wrote his first LP, Mind Out Wandering. Recorded mostly live to two-inch tape, the album was a conscious departure from the bedroom pop direction of earlier material. Its production was precise and nakedly clean, showcasing the musicianship of his band and earning comparisons to early
Bee Gees records and Philly soul.
When Chaz Bear (Toro y Moi) offered to produce his next album, Tony began devising a collection of songs that would capitalize on the intersection of their sensibilities. The world had begun growing rapidly stranger, and he found his reference points shifting toward outsider music, Latin psychedelia, and the haunting orchestral arrangements of
David Axelrod.
A new voice was coming out of Tony, taking cues from oracular crooners like Lee Hazlewood and
Kevin Ayers and delivering cryptic messages pitched far below the falsetto that had come to characterize his sound. It would seem disjunctive if it wasn't so natural; you can hear Tony finally stepping into himself as Bear's production carries the songs onto a bizarre and timeless wavelength. Living in Symbol serves as the surreal coming-of-age diary of one weirdo floating through the ooze of the Information Age.
