photo by Kyle Johnson
If 2011′s No Witch was The Cave Singers‘ “rock album”, then on their forthcoming album, Naomi, the Seattle band lets it roll. At first listen, the songs seem breezier than those recorded with Black Mountain producer Randall Dunn, though they’re hardly insubstantial at all. In fact, Naomi is rich and full, thanks to the warm tones added by Seattle producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins, Band of Horses, too many to list) and to the addition of new band member Morgan Henderson (Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes), who provides bass and other instrumentation (like the flute he plays here).
The song we are able to share with you today, “Have to Pretend,” has a smoother, more groovin’ sound you might have heard from The Cave Singers before. On it, guitarist Derek Fudesco trades his usual strummin’ and pickin’ acoustic for a ringing, reverb-heavy electric guitar that drives the song in equal measure to percussionist Marty Lund’s unrelenting pounding on the kit and Henderson’s throbbing bass line. Perhaps most striking, though, is the chorus of Doo-wop “ooh-ah-woo-ooh’s” behind Peter Quirk’s resonant voice - The ‘Singers have never had such swagger!
You’ll have to wait for Naomi‘s official release - slated for a March 5, 2013, on Jagjaguwar - to hear more, but you can grab “Have to Pretend” today (and today only) right here:
