With Dan Mangan's new, two-song "Vessel"/"Wants" single having landed today (October 14), the Vancouver singer-songwriter has now revealed all of the info behind his upcoming album. Dubbed Club Meds, Mangan's first full-length offering with his band, Blacksmith, arrives January 13 through Arts & Crafts.
As previously reported, Mangan's latest has him fully integrating his live backup band as Blacksmith. The core of the crew includes Mangan, Kenton Loewen, Gordon Grdina and John Walsh, with extra aural assistance provided by Jesse Zubot, JP Carter and Tyson Naylor. While it had previously been hinted that Peter Gabriel and Radiohead were big influences on the 11-song set, highlighted as such with a stream for "Vessel," a press release also notes that traces of Steve Reich and Blonde Redhead have also made their way into the arrangements.
Like 2011's Oh Fortune, the album was produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain). As the title Club Meds may suggest, instead of the last album's bombastic and boastful approach, Mangan's latest is explained to be a more relaxed outing, often resting on a "fog of analog feedback loops and synths."
"Club Meds is about sedation," Mangan explained in a statement. "Sedation can be chemical, but not exclusively so. There is a great vacation from actuality going on. Maybe it's always been there. It seems like everybody else is already at the party and that life is somehow easier or more fun under the fog. But instead, it only makes people feel more alone, more dangerous, more desperate. It's okay, though. We're all just particles."
No new material from the album has been previewed just yet, but the two-song "Vessel"/"Wants" single is available now. Blacksmith also have a handful of upcoming tour dates, and you'll find the show info beneath the tracklisting.
Club Meds:
1. Offred
2. Vessel
3. Mouthpiece
4. A Doll's House / Pavlovia
5. Kitsch
6. XVI
7. War Spoils
8. Forgetery
9. Club Meds
10. Pretty Good Joke
11. New Skies
Tour dates:
10/25 Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts *
10/27 Columbus, OH - The Basement *
10/28 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *
10/29 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Café *
10/31 Denver, CO - Lost Lake Lounge *
11/01 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
11/03 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
11/05 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile *
11/07 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
11/08 Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg HIFI *
11/09 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
11/13 Austin, TX - The Parish *
11/14 Dallas, TX - The Loft *
11/15 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone Café *
11/16 Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley *
11/17 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
11/19 Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *
11/24 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair *
11/25 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw *
02/28 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall ^
* with Bear's Den
^ with Hayden
As previously reported, Mangan's latest has him fully integrating his live backup band as Blacksmith. The core of the crew includes Mangan, Kenton Loewen, Gordon Grdina and John Walsh, with extra aural assistance provided by Jesse Zubot, JP Carter and Tyson Naylor. While it had previously been hinted that Peter Gabriel and Radiohead were big influences on the 11-song set, highlighted as such with a stream for "Vessel," a press release also notes that traces of Steve Reich and Blonde Redhead have also made their way into the arrangements.
Like 2011's Oh Fortune, the album was produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain). As the title Club Meds may suggest, instead of the last album's bombastic and boastful approach, Mangan's latest is explained to be a more relaxed outing, often resting on a "fog of analog feedback loops and synths."
"Club Meds is about sedation," Mangan explained in a statement. "Sedation can be chemical, but not exclusively so. There is a great vacation from actuality going on. Maybe it's always been there. It seems like everybody else is already at the party and that life is somehow easier or more fun under the fog. But instead, it only makes people feel more alone, more dangerous, more desperate. It's okay, though. We're all just particles."
No new material from the album has been previewed just yet, but the two-song "Vessel"/"Wants" single is available now. Blacksmith also have a handful of upcoming tour dates, and you'll find the show info beneath the tracklisting.
Club Meds:
1. Offred
2. Vessel
3. Mouthpiece
4. A Doll's House / Pavlovia
5. Kitsch
6. XVI
7. War Spoils
8. Forgetery
9. Club Meds
10. Pretty Good Joke
11. New Skies
Tour dates:
10/25 Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts *
10/27 Columbus, OH - The Basement *
10/28 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *
10/29 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Café *
10/31 Denver, CO - Lost Lake Lounge *
11/01 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
11/03 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
11/05 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile *
11/07 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
11/08 Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg HIFI *
11/09 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
11/13 Austin, TX - The Parish *
11/14 Dallas, TX - The Loft *
11/15 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone Café *
11/16 Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley *
11/17 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
11/19 Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *
11/24 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair *
11/25 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw *
02/28 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall ^
* with Bear's Den
^ with Hayden
