Permanent Moves to Release Debut Album 'Don't Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle'

Permanent Moves is Shane Chapman and Julia Sirna-Frest, an indie-electro-folk-rock duo from Brooklyn, NY. They started writing music together in 2016 based on found texts and have grown into an unique blend of eclectic orchestrations and soaring, emotional harmonies that The New York Times has called “sonically gorgeous.”

Their forthcoming concept album Don't Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle – out on April 12 – uses the work of Anton Chekhov as inspiration and their north star. The project features Chris Giarmo (American Utopia), Jessie Shelton (Hadestown), Karl Blau, Starr Busby and many other special guests. It also features translations by Laurence Senelick. Today they unveil a video for “200 Years.”

Permanent Moves will celebrate the release of Don't Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle with a live performance on April 16 at Brooklyn's Sultan Room. Tickets are available now.

Pre-order Don't Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle on vinyl here.

More about Julia Sirna-Frest: 

Julia Sirna-Frest is a performer, director and musician. Favorite performance credits include: [Porto] (WP Theater, The Bushwick Starr); Lunch Bunch (PlayCo, Clubbed Thumb); Seder (Hartford Stage); A Tunnel Year (The Chocolate Factory); The Offending Gesture (Mac Wellman); Comfort Dogs: Live from the Pink House (JACK). She is a founding member of the Obie award-winning Half Straddle company, productions include: Ghost Rings (TBA/PICA); Ancient Lives (The Kitchen); Seagull (Thinking of you) (The New Ohio, International Tour); In the Pony Palace/Football (The Bushwick Starr, International Tour); Nurses in New England (The Ohio); The Knockout Blow (The Ontological). She's a Composer/Performer with Permanent Moves and co-front woman of Doll Parts, Brooklyn's premiere Dolly Parton cover band. Julia has also directed many projects written by her artistic soul mate, Zoë Geltman. Julia's a member of the 2022-2024 WP Lab and a New Georges Jam Cohort!

More about Shane Chapman:

Shane Chapman is a composer and musician living in Gowanus, Brooklyn. As a composer, he has written music for film, theater and podcasts including for the award-winning documentary Silent Forests, Emily Black is a Total Gift (Daaimah Mubashshir, Fisher Center), Comfort Dogs (William Burke, JACK), and Cleopatra Boy (A Host of People, National Tours). He has performed and recorded with The Peter Ulrich Collaboration, and is a composer/performer with Permanent Moves, which will release their debut LP Don't Forget Us in April 2024. He performs with and is the music director of Doll Parts, Brooklyn's premiere Dolly Parton cover band. He's released 2 albums with his rock band Anacortes. Shane has a Masters in Composition from Brooklyn College.

Photo credit Sammy Tunis