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Howe Gelb reveals new track 'On The Fence'
From new album 'Gathered' out 8th March
Limited edition Gold LP / LP / CD
Pre-order: https://fire-records.lnk.to/gathered
Featuring contributions from Anna Karina, M. Ward, Fernando Vacas, The Lost Brothers, Kira Skov, Frank Birch Pontoppidan and more..
US live Dates:
11 Feb: Bowery Electric, New York
12 Feb: St. Paul, Minnesota w/ Pieta Brown
13 Feb: Montrose Saloon, Chicago, IL
14 Feb: Montrose Saloon, Chicago, IL
Eavesdropping is an art. And on Howe Gelb’s new solo album, ‘Gathered’, it’s been perfected. A chance meeting heard through a door half cracked open, it’s an album of candid romanticism, a footnote to your heart’s history.
On ‘Gathered’, it feels like you’re privy to musings on a muse (or two). From the first discordant pluck of ‘On The Fence’ you’re alone and lost in the dark of Chet Baker vocalease where brushes whisp over the snare and you can taste the bar room’s stale smoke as a procession of partners sway into position. Old photographs half remembered. Is that M Ward just out of focus on Leonard Cohen’s ‘A Thousand Kisses Deep’ and Anna Karina on ‘Not The End Of The World’
There’s an international feel; Howe spars with world weary travellers from Ireland, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and down home. His daughter Talula intones ‘Moon River’, there’s a nod to Bessie, Piaf and Ella F, and the loving cup is filled. There are spaces here; tension built through gaps in the proceedings. Howe provides commentary too, ensuring it’s a personal narrative.
It’s all about wanderlust, the moodier piano moments offset by occasional string-driven grit, all of it peppered with an angular rattle. These bedraggled raconteurs spin yarns and tell stories; Howe holds court, a tale-telling strummer set on making an imperfect clash of tones just perfect.
After his two jazz-tinged ‘Future Standards’ sets, Howe’s tempered balladry on ‘Gathered’ captures all the beauty of everyday complex relationships, sideways glances and all that stems from such a smile. The title track reminisces on the big day and its rites of union. Howe’s a hapless and hopeless romantic at heart. Deep down.
“A wandering troubadour in search of treasured happenstance.” Quietus
It’s a chance meeting of the indie/alt country Sinatra lost in music, annotated by wordplay and set in a laidback lounge where rhyming couplets are teased by tongue twisters and an earthy ramble through familiar wonders.
“Gelb’s long-held fascination with words, particularly the way certain ones rub up against one another or encourage an allusive phrase, usually stretched over an odd meter, is a joy.” Uncut
Howe Gelb’s ‘Gathered’ is released on limited edition gold vinyl, black LP and CD on 8th March 2019.
Track list:
On The Fence
A Thousand Kisses Deep ft. M Ward
Not The End Of The World ft. Anna Karina
Anna
Give It Up
The Open Road
Moon River ft. Talula Gelb
Flyin’ Off The Rails
Gathered ft. Pieta Brown
All You Need To Know
The Park At Dark
My Little World
Presumptuous ft. Kira Skov
Storyteller
Steadfast