New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Slow Dakota, the songwriter and label owner from
Indiana (by way of New York) released "Burial" on Easter Sunday--the third single off his upcoming album Tornado Mass for Voice & Synthesizer, due out May 1 on Massif Records.
Slow Dakota mastermind PJ Sauerteig is a practicing lawyer, but his psyche isn't all logic and reason. "Burial" was inspired by superstition and mysticism that shrouds burial practice even today. As technology advances, and people leave religion behind, still, these traditions remain the black, the reading, no expense spared for the great and lavish wooden box. Written long before the COVID epidemic, the song strikes an especially eerie tone in our current cultural moment.
Sauerteig wrote songs for this album over the course of several years and although the album was not purposely scheduled to come out in a time of worldwide uncertainty, the album and the songs that make up this album could not be more timely. The intention of "Burial..." and Tornado Mass for Voice & Synthesizer as a whole is to offer up a body of work that encourages listeners to indulge in magical thinking and to give them a sense of escape into a beautiful musical landscape steeped in hope and mysticism.
The name Slow Dakota comes from Sauerteig's great grandfather who spent final years in and out of hospitals and the occasional psychiatric institute. As his mental health started to deteriorate he began writing letters to The President of the United States, and would always sign them "Yours, Slow Dakota.," although having no relation to North or South Dakota. During one family visit to the hospital when Sauerteig was only 5 or 6, his great grandfather slipped him one of these letters and asked him to deliver it. The letter was addressed to President Lincoln. So, years later, when Sauerteig began releasing music, Slow Dakota felt like an appropriate pen name. Long letters to no one.
Sauerteig's music is known for blending baroque pop, folk, classical, and electronic influences like
Vangelis and Sufjan Stevens. Sauerteig often employs "spoken word" interludes, and his lyrics fixate on myth, rural folklore, and fairy tales. In 2016, he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Sauerteig began releasing music as Slow Dakota from his Columbia University dorm room in 2012.
As an undergraduate, Sauerteig pursued Creative Writing and Psychology, and quietly released his first few albums: Our Indian Boy (2012), Bürstner and the Baby (2013), and The
Junior EP (2015). While at Columbia, Sauerteig also founded a small record label, Massif Records, to release his own music, and the music of close friends - including the lovely Margaux. Sauerteig spent two years recording in various cities and tapped longtime producer, Sahil Ansari, and legendary mastering engineer, Greg Calbi for Tornado for Voice and Synthesizer. The album, which will be the fourth Slow Dakota full-length album, will be released on Sauerteig's own label Massif Records this spring.
