Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld have announced the next chapter in their productive collaborative relationship. The pair — who have played together in Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre, scored a film and toured together — have now announced a full-on collaborative album. Never were the way she was will be out on Constellation Records on April 28.
The album was recorded by Hans Bernhard at a farmhouse attic studio in rural Vermont called the End of the World, and the results were mixed by Mark Lawson. It pairs Stetson's horn playing with Neufeld's violin and voice, and a press release notes that it was made live without any "overdubbing, looping, sampling, cutting or pasting." Some of the material has been played by the pair together live.
The inspiration for the material is described like this: "Never were the way she was is guided by the metaphorical narrative of the life of a girl who ages slow as mountains; excited, exalted, and ultimately exiled in her search for a world that resembles her experience."
The eight-song album clocks in at 42 minutes. For a taste of the sound, scroll past the tracklist below to hear opening cut "The sun roars into view." As you'd probably expect, this seven-and-a-half-minute cut consists of hypnotic horn figures and dramatically building violin.
Never were the way she was:
1. The sun roars into view
2. Won't be a thing to become
3. In the vespers
4. And still they move
5. With the dark hug of time
6. The rest of us
7. Never were the way she was
8. Flight
Tour dates:
04/11 Dublin, Ireland - The Twisted Pepper
04/13 Cully, Switzerland - Temple
04/15 Dudingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
04/17 London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
04/18 Vienna, Australia - Porgy & Bess
04/20 Zagreb, Hungary - Kset
04/22 Copenhagen, Denmark - Jazzhouse
04/23 Oslo, Norway - Victoria (Nasjonal Jazzscene)
04/24 Bergen, Norway - Sardinen, USF
04/25 Trondheim, NO - Dokkhuset Scene
04/28 Gent, Belgium - Handelsbeurs Concert Hall
04/30 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Lantaren Venster
05/01 Groningen, Netherlands - De Oosterpoort
05/02 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Club Cross Linx
05/03 Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
The album was recorded by Hans Bernhard at a farmhouse attic studio in rural Vermont called the End of the World, and the results were mixed by Mark Lawson. It pairs Stetson's horn playing with Neufeld's violin and voice, and a press release notes that it was made live without any "overdubbing, looping, sampling, cutting or pasting." Some of the material has been played by the pair together live.
The inspiration for the material is described like this: "Never were the way she was is guided by the metaphorical narrative of the life of a girl who ages slow as mountains; excited, exalted, and ultimately exiled in her search for a world that resembles her experience."
The eight-song album clocks in at 42 minutes. For a taste of the sound, scroll past the tracklist below to hear opening cut "The sun roars into view." As you'd probably expect, this seven-and-a-half-minute cut consists of hypnotic horn figures and dramatically building violin.
Never were the way she was:
1. The sun roars into view
2. Won't be a thing to become
3. In the vespers
4. And still they move
5. With the dark hug of time
6. The rest of us
7. Never were the way she was
8. Flight
Tour dates:
04/11 Dublin, Ireland - The Twisted Pepper
04/13 Cully, Switzerland - Temple
04/15 Dudingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
04/17 London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
04/18 Vienna, Australia - Porgy & Bess
04/20 Zagreb, Hungary - Kset
04/22 Copenhagen, Denmark - Jazzhouse
04/23 Oslo, Norway - Victoria (Nasjonal Jazzscene)
04/24 Bergen, Norway - Sardinen, USF
04/25 Trondheim, NO - Dokkhuset Scene
04/28 Gent, Belgium - Handelsbeurs Concert Hall
04/30 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Lantaren Venster
05/01 Groningen, Netherlands - De Oosterpoort
05/02 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Club Cross Linx
05/03 Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar