Portland based band Horse Feathers have announced the their release of their forthcoming album Appreciation, out May 4 via Kill Rock Stars. Additionally, NPR has premiered the first album track "Without Applause" today. Listen and share here and pre-order Appreciation here.
On Appreciation, their sixth full-length and the fifth on venerable independent label Kill Rock Stars, the signifiers of the band are there: Lead singer Justin Ringle's warm tenor and lyrics that speak of work, love, and other struggles. But on this album less of the song dynamics are achieved with strings and more with an exciting new rhythm section steeped in Northern Soul. Longtime violinist Nathan Crockett and keyboardist Dustin Dybvig provide continuity, but much of Appreciation feels like the best of Ringle's previous musical ideas just took a giant step into a larger arena.
Recorded primarily in Kentucky (at La-La Land Studios in Louisville and
Shangri-La Studios in Lexington), the new album features instrumentalists J. Tom Hnatow, Robby Cosenza and R&B vocalist Joslyn Hampton, who helped make Appreciation a mixture of strutting '70s-style country-pop ("Without Applause," "Don't Mean To Pry") and supple soul ("Best To Leave," "Evictions"). But
Horse Feathers hasn't gained accessibility at the expense of quality, nor at the expense of their signature instrumentation ("The Hex" might be the only R&B/soul song where the rhythmic lead is played on banjo). For those who crave what NPR called "the densely pretty seethe of Horse Feathers' earlier ballads", the album delivers "Born in Love" and "On the Rise", accentuating the string surge with Hammond organ, piano, tambourine, and finger snaps.
"It just felt like a fresh take on how my songs can come across," Ringle says. "With this incarnation, it's okay if what I'm doing right now is in fact kind of a pop song. I can have a chorus and repeat something. I'm more aware of that and enjoy it."
Horse
Feathers will launch their tour in support of Appreciation in May, see below for dates with more to be announced.
Horse Feather Tour Dates:
May 9 - Vancouver, CN - Fox Cabaret
May 10 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
May 11 - Portland, OR -
Revolution Hall
May 14 - Felton, CA - Don Quixote's
May 16 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
May 17 - Los Angeles, CA - The Bootleg
May 18 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
May 19 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole
May 20 - Flagstaff, AZ - Coconino Center For The Arts
May 22 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
May 24 - Salt Lake City, UT - State Room
May 25 - Ft Collins, CO -
Downtown Artery
May 26 - Denver, CO -
Bluebird Theater
May 27 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
May 29 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar
May 30 - Nashville, TN - Hi Watt
May 31 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
June 1 - Asheville, NC - Mothlight
June 3 - Charlotte, NC -
Neighborhood Theater
June 6 - Washington, DC - Union Stage
June 7 - New York, NY -
Bowery Ballroom
June 8 - Boston, MA - Sinclair
June 9 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
June 13 - Toronto, ON - Drake
June 14 - Detroit, MI - Otus Supply
June 15 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
June 16 - Minneapolis, MN - Turf Club
June 17 - Omaha, NE -
The Waiting Room
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