Son Of The Velvet Rat
Son of the Velvet Rat (SotVR) celebrates the release of their sixth album Dorado – a golden treasure of desert-inspired tracks produced by the critically acclaimed songwriter and producer, Joe Henry. The album will debut internationally on February 16th, 2017 with a dual release by Fluff & Gravy (CDs and Vinyl) and Mint 400 (Digital Distribution)
“Dorado was recorded quickly over just a few days, and it had to be. The songs as deft pieces of writing had already been well considered, but their articulation needed to be urgent for the mystery at the heart of them to spark and fizz with real-time revelation... Georg and Heike, the husband and wife duo from Austria who are lock-and-key to Son Of The Velvet Rat – both closing the circle of their shared intention, and springing it open – seem invariably to embody the purest constructs of Americana. The voices you hear from this album hover like strobing waves rising from a ribbon of heated black road, and that is precisely how they entered my world: as an apparition both unmistakable and untouchable; other-worldly, yet utterly familiar. I sometimes believe that as sprawling and confused as our national character has become, it requires a foreigner to actually make sense and whole cloth of its particular alchemy –to see it clearly, as if from the fire tower high above us.“ - Joe Henry, Producer
Alongside this latest album creation, the band catalogue includes collaborations with other luminaries such as Lucinda Williams and former Wilco drummer Ken Coomer. Peter Jesperson, former producer & manager of The Replacements, put it aptly: “... beautiful and somber music, their lyrics are pure poetry.”
After years of finding inspiration in the California desert, Son Of The Velvet Rat chose in 2013 to leave behind their impressive band history in Austria, with 5 albums to their credit, and make their home in Joshua Tree. This new endeavor finds the two commuting between the anonymous wasteland of Los Angeles and the fierce but fragile beauty of the high desert, reinventing their creative sphere in a completely different artistic environment. There’s a certain strangeness in their music and sound, with its origins woven deeply in the cultural heritage of the European folk-noir and chanson traditions, and it certainly strikes a chord in all who know the grounding force of gravity and still like to dance on the tightrope.
“...a landscape that echoes the dark romanticism of Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake...stark imagery amid themes of love, loss, and longing.” - Performer
"There is a deep and soulful purity to their music. Georg is not just a lyricist. He is a songwriter’s songwriter. There is a haunting beauty in each and every song that stimulates intrigue." - Coachella Valley Weekly
“Heartbreakingly beautiful, slow, minimal folk." - KZSU
"There‘s some dark majesty at work here." - Logo
RIYL: Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Joe Henry
TRY: #3, 1, 10
Download full album here:
https://www.piratepirate.com/downloads/
More Info Here:
http://sonofthevelvetrat.com
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