Ed Schrader's Music Beat Premieres Dan Deacon-Produced 'Seagull'

Baltimore-based duo Ed Schrader's Music Beat will release Riddles - their new Dan Deacon-produced album and Carpark Records debut - on March 2nd. Ahead of its release, today the band shares the album's bass-driven third single "Seagull." Listen to the track now and read about the song's influences via Consequence of Sound's "Origins" series HERE.

Riddles comes out March 2nd - pre-order the album at Carpark or on iTunes, and pre-save the album on Spotify. Ed Schrader's Music Beans, bags of coffee roasted by ESMB's resident coffee connoisseur Devlin, are now sold out.

Ed Schrader's Music Beat will take Riddles out on the road and kick things off next week - see below to find a show near you, and get your tickets HERE.

Ed Schrader's Music Beat needed to make this record. Nineteen tours in the U.S. since the Baltimore-based duo's formation in 2010, from headlining underground spaces to opening massive venues for Future Islands, had left vocalist Ed Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice exhausted - and hungry to take their music to the next level. ESMB originally worked in a maximalist drums, bass, and vocals mode, releasing the noise-rock full-lengths Jazz Mind (Load Records, 2012), and Party Jail (Infinity Cat Recordings, 2014). However, Ed and Devlin dreamed of a fuller sound - layered, breathing arrangements their early rapid-fire compositions always seemed to imply, without yet having the tools to realize.

On Riddles, their first release for Carpark, the Music Beat begins their new life.

In search of a fresh direction, Ed and Devlin invited their close friend, electronic-pop maestro and fellow Baltimore-based artist Dan Deacon, to expand their sound and experiment with them as the album's producer, arranger, and co-writer. Working steadily in Dan's studio for two years in total collaboration, three evolving musicians pushed through an intense period of personal tumult and found purpose in the sounds they were committing to record. The result: a polished and passionate masterpiece of nuanced alt-rock.

Dan, Ed, and Devlin all poured emotions produced by major life changes into these sessions. While in Puerto Rico on a rare vacation, Ed learned of the death of his stepfather, a charismatic but abusive figure who'd cast a dominant shadow on his formative years (feelings explored on the elegant "Tom," and crucial to the flow of the album). Devlin sat at the bedside of his brother, who'd long lived with a terminal illness, as he saw through his choice to die with dignity. And Dan's longest relationship, which had stretched across his entire career as a musician thus far, came to an end. "I looked forward to these sessions when everything else in life was a s-show," recalls Devlin, who began the record commuting from Providence to Baltimore, but moved into Dan's studio as it neared completion.

"For me, the album parallels feelings of confronting the past, resolving it, facing the music, and blasting out of it," says Ed. "It's the album our hearts wanted us to make." Riddles is a full-length collaboration between Ed Schrader's Music Beat and Dan Deacon. All three people invested their souls into this record for two full years, and it shows.

Tour dates

• 3/1 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
• 3/3 - Washington, DC@ Comet Ping Pong
• 3/4 - Raleigh, NC @ Kings
• 3/5 - Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
• 3/6 - Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
• 3/7 - Nashville, TN @ Found Object Records (presented by DRKMTTR)
• 3/9 - Atlanta, GA @ Mammal Gallery
• 3/13 - Dallas, TX @ Transit Bicycle Company
• 3/14 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
• 3/15 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
• 3/16 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
• 3/17 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
• 3/18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
• 3/19 - Hot Springs, AK @ VOV Fest
• 3/20 - Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
• 3/21 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
• 3/23 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
• 3/24 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
• 3/26 - Reno, NV @ Holland Project
• 3/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
• 3/29 - San Francisco, CA @ Make Out Room
• 3/31 - Portland, OR @ The Know
• 4/1 - Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project
• 4/4 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Total Drag Records
• 4/5 - Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub
• 4/6 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
• 4/7 - Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters Rock N Roll Palace
• 4/8 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
• 4/8 - Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar
• 4/10 - Toronto, ON @ Baby G
• 4/11 - Winooski, VT @ Monkey House
• 4/12 - Providence, RI @ AS220
• 4/14 - Philadelphia, PA @ Everybody Hits
• 4/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right
• 5/1 - Edinburgh, Scotland @ Sneaky Pete's
• 5/2 - Glasgow, Scotland @ The Hug and Pint
• 5/6 - Manchester, UK @ Sounds from the Other City Festival
• 5/7 - London, UK @ Moth Club
• 5/8 - Paris, France @ Espace B
• 5/10 - Madrid, Spain @ El Sol - Sound Isidro
• 5/14 - Lyon, France @ Grrnd Zero
• 5/16 - Lausanne, Switzerland @ Le Bourg
• 5/17 - Esslingen, Germany @ Komma
• 5/18 - Prague, Czech Republic @ 007 Club
• 5/20 - Berlin, Germany @ ACUD Macht Neu
• 5/23 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Cinetol
• 5/25 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ WORM

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