 Photo Credit: Manmade Media
The multi-genre ensemble DeVotchKa return today with the release of their new full-length album This Night Falls Forever, available now on Concord Records. As part of the release, the band has shared a video for the nostalgic first single "Straight Shot". Watch the video here. The album also includes the "high-octane" (Gary Graff, Billboard) track "Angels" as well as "Empty Vessels" which premiered earlier this week on Consequence of Sound,
who described the song as "sturdy even as it tumbles through endless
spirals of orchestration like a dream through the early breaking
daylight." After scoring Films, TV, Musicals, Ballets, and performing with symphony orchestra's, Devotchka
emerge from the studio with their sixth full-length album, which
includes 11 songs that defy categorization. These tracks straddle the
line between the epic and the intimate. Devotchka
has garnered much praise and attention for blurring the lines of genre
and cultural influence, and with this release they have clearly carved
their own unique space in the modern musical landscape. Frontman Nick
Urata's soaring vocal croon and poetic lyrics are back in full force.
His voice travels atop ambitious film noir orchestras and live vintage
vodoo rock combos. It all started following the end of DeVotchKa's 2012 tour, when
Urata was left feeling conflicted. On one hand, the band was as popular
as ever, playing their critically-acclaimed songs to fans at sold-out
shows around the globe, and he was enjoying a burgeoning career as a
film score composer, with a GRAMMY nomination already under his belt for
the film Little Miss Sunshine. However, on the night of DeVotchKa's
final show of the tour, onstage in an enormous arena in Mexico, Urata
belted out the first few lines only to discover his microphone powered
off-a simple mistake, but one that would later cause him to reflect
deeply on his stake in life.
"You
try not to make a big deal out of it, but you don't recover from that
for the rest of the show," Urata says, now smiling at the memory. "It
happened more than once on that tour. I was realizing how nearly anyone
can sing, almost everybody has the ability, but if you want to perform
for people, then you have to fight for it."
After
the tour the band-Urata (vocals, guitars, Theremin, trumpet, piano),
Jeanie Schroder (acoustic bass, sousaphone), Shawn King (drums,
percussion, trumpet), and Tom Hagerman (violin, viola, accordion,
piano)-enjoyed a series of gigs at smaller venues. Urata spent those
shows both reconnecting with his audience on a more intimate level and
rediscovering his love for his craft. It was a necessary moment that
inspired him to begin work on a new DeVotchKa album-a
process that would take a lot longer than anyone anticipated, but that
would prove essential. "I realized the motivation is simply how much I
love singing," Urata says, "and I just want to keep this conversation
going with people who have connected with our band. It is a rare and
powerful thing to connect with people like this, it is the thing that
keeps us going."
Utilizing
that intimate dynamic, Urata turned his struggle into art. Through
persistence, concerted effort, and patience, Urata found his path. "One
thing I've learned from great writers is to force yourself to show up to
work everyday, even if you feel you don't have anything-apply yourself
and it will come," he says. "Writing music has always been the one thing
in my life that's subconsciously gnawed at me. I have to do it."
In writing for This Night Falls Forever,
Urata tapped directly into his past, connecting the dots between that
audience-and-artist relationship and a period of intense self-discovery.
As for the album's title, Urata was inspired by yet another period of
transition, albeit one that occurs each and every day: the passing of
day into night. It's a fitting motif for his process, a constant
reminder that toil eventually makes way for transport. "I wanted to
capture that moment of twilight falling, where there's electricity in
the air and you get that sense that everything is going to be OK."
Last night, DeVotchKa took the stage at Rough Trade in New York for an album release show, following a stunning live session this week with Paste and a "stirring, epic, and intimate" performance with WNYC's Soundcheck. This weekend fans can tune in to see them on the eminent CBS Saturday Morning. Then, in the fall DeVotchKa takes the show on the road with their international tour throughout the U.S. and Europe.
This Night Falls Forever is available on vinyl, CD and digital via http://found.ee/DeVotchKa_ThisNightFallsForever. For more information and concert tickets, visit DeVotchKa.net.
TOUR DATES:
September 29 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre
September 30 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
October 02 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
October 04 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
October 05 - St. Louis, MO - Delmar Hall
October 06 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman
October 07 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
November 27 - December 01 - Europe
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