The first of a series of weekly ‘teasers’ for the upcoming album from Sons of Noel and Adrian, Knots, went online on Monday. They will be coming every Monday until the album is officially released on May 21. Follow the band on Facebook to keep up to date.
Your Tunnel That Connects My Arm To A God-Fearing Woman Who Lives In The Dark – the collection of songs recorded in between the release of SONAA’s self-titled debut and the sophomore album, Knots – is now available worldwide via iTunes here.
We are extremely pleased to announce the release of Emma Gatrill‘s stunning debut album, Chapter I, on May 14th through Willkommen.
We’re expecting copies of the album this week and will be putting them up for preorder as soon as we do. The first fifty copies will come with a length of bunting and other surprises, all handmade by Emma. You can see some photos of her making them on her Facebook page.
Emma is an unstoppable and multi-instrumental collaborator. As well as being a full time musician with the multi-tentacled psych-folk behemoth Sons of Noel and Adrian and getting crowds dancing to the rowdy stamp-along anthems of The Mariner’s Children, she has found time to lend her voice, clarinet or accordion skills to everyone from Laura Marling to Broken Social Scene.
No wonder then that it has taken her so long to get round to concentrate on her own music. Chapter One showcases poignant songs based around her latest acquisition – the harp. Subtly accompanied by various members of Brighton’s Willkommen Collective, her intricate harp playing and powerful vocals soars above her classic songwriting, which owes a debt to Bjork and Joni Mitchell as well as her friends and co-conspirators Rachael Dadd and Alessi’s Ark.
The band’s sophomore album sees them breaking far away from the acoustic roots of their debut. Sons of Noel and Adrian’s immersion in folk music was always more informed by guitarists like Dave Pajo, David Grubbs and Jeff Parker than by traditionalists. These influences, rooted in the city of Chicago’s pre-millennial post-rock, jazz and avant-pop scenes, are explored on Knots to their fullest. At times soft and orchestral, at times crass and loud, Knots is always infused with beauty and tenderness: soulful, taunt, honed and with a new found love of kosmiche experimentation. Knots’ expanded sonic tapestry is marshalled and woven with growing stature by SONAA’s chief song-writer, Jacob Richardson, whose meditative lyrical concepts and melodic craftsmanship mark him out as musician of genuine depth and gravitas whilst remaining as arcane and beguiling as Palace.
Rejecting notions of a fixed line-up, Sons of Noel and Adrian is more of a sprawling musical whirlpool centred around a few key members, not unlike Broken Social Scene, with whom two members of Sons toured with last year as part of their horn section. The band includes members of The Mariner’s Children, Eyes & No Eyes, and make up most of the renowned Willkommen Collective that spawned The Leisure Society, and the various members lend their talents freely to everyone from Damo Suzuki to Laura Marling.
Such selfless creative interdependence is at the heart of the Willkommen Collective and Sons of Noel and Adrian. The results of their musical co-operative have yielded an album that transcends their debut and positions them as a very unique and thrilling proposition indeed: Knots see SONAA charting new, unexplored aural terrain as immersive an experience on stage as it on record.
Also don’t forget the following shows:
April 2: CARDIFF – 10 Feet Tall | Last.fm | Songkick | Tickets | with Winter Villains & Emma Gatrill
April 3: BRISTOL – The Fleece | Last.fm | Songkick | Tickets | with Laish & Emma Gatrill
April 4: NORWICH – Arts Centre | Last.fm | Songkick | with Laish & Emma Gatrill
April 5: LONDON – Bush Hall | Last.fm | Songkick | Tickets | with Laish & Emma Gatrill
April 7: BRIGHTON – The Haunt | Last.fm | Songkick| with Laish & Emma Gatrill