NEW YORK (Or Music/ www.john-cale.com) - On
September 7, ascendant indie label Or
Music will release "HoboSapiens," the first full-length album of songs in eight years by Welsh rock colossus John Cale. Cale is famed for everything from '60s internships with classical revolutionaries
John Cage and La Monte Young, to epochal contributions to the
Velvet Underground, landmark production duties for The Stooges, Nico and Patti Smith, feted collaborations with Brian Eno and Lou Reed, abundant soundtrack and orchestral detours, and his own 16-album, song-based solo oeuvre.
A thirteen-track cavalcade of sample-laden rock, balladry and instrumental exotica, "HoboSapiens" is a consummate John Cale album in the noble tradition of "Paris 1919", "Fear" or "Music For A New Society" - albeit with a modernist twist. Opener 'Zen', for example, pairs a witty treatise on international conspiracy with some dark, digital funk; while the grand 'Magritte' ruminates on the eponymous surrealist painter to the sweep of Cale's trademark viola, his chorus falsetto soaring memorably.
'Letter From Abroad' and 'Caravan', meanwhile, zoom cinematically from Norfolk Broads to Niagara Falls to Afghanistan with a retinue of chilling vocal punctuations, electronic flourishes and Eastern embellishments.
"HoboSapiens'" intrepid scope was augmented by production assistance from Nick Franglen - one half of chillout duo Lemon Jelly. His signature grooves and heartwarming atmospheric accents work their way into the hypnotically rhythmic 'Archimedes', the almost jaunty 'Look Horizon' and the optimistic, hook-laden instrumental, 'Bicycle'. Two versions of 'Things' - perhaps the album's most immediate song - mark out "HoboSapiens'" parameters: one a drop-dead gorgeous pop-rock sing-along, the other a grinding essay in noir-ish claustrophobia.
A stealthy intoxication for both heart and mind, "HoboSapiens" ranks alongside the most compelling chapters in John Cale's peerless musical chronicle - proof positive that this indomitable icon is striding into his seventh decade with passion, wisdom and intellect blazing.
Or Music, which is currently enjoying a major artist development success story with Texican rockers Los Lonely Boys' debut album, was founded in New York City in 2002 by music industry veterans Michael Caplan and Larry Miller. Or Music provides new options for music fans with its fresh, iconoclastic approach to A&R, and commitment to building a multi-genre roster with broad appeal for listeners of all ages.
Other Or Music acts include Particle, Pitty Sing, Phil Roy and Tower of Power. Or Music will also release 'Por Vida,' the multi-artist, double-cd Alejandro Escovedo benefit and tribute album, on July 27.
