Sarah Neufeld is best known as the violinist of Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre and the Luyas, but she's also staged some solo performances as of late, and last year revealed that she had an album in the works. As promised, Neufeld has now confirmed the details of her first-ever solo LP. Hero Brother is out on August 20 through Constellation Records.
The album was laid down in Berlin with Nils Frahm, who recorded Neufeld in various locales like an abandoned geodesic dome, an underground parking lot and Studio P4's orchestral recording hall.
The resulting album is a collection of instrumental violin compositions that are occasionally fleshed out with hints of wordless vocals, harmonium, piano and percussion. Influences include Bela Bartok, Steve Reich, Iva Bittova and Arthur Russell, and the album "[flows] through shifting atmospheres and [oscillates] between restrained, stately ambience, emotive études, and raw kinetic energy."
The record will be available on CD and 180-gram vinyl
For a taste of Hero Brother, stream the title track at the bottom of the page. It uses a stomping kick drum to punctuate its nimble violin lines. An album teaser, plus Neufeld's prior performance for Exclaim! TV, is also below.
Neufeld will be playing a number of solo shows in the coming months. Some of these gigs are with Colin Stetson, and there are a number of Canadian appearances. Scroll past the tracklist to see the itinerary.
Hero Brother:
1. Tower
2. Hero Brother
3. Dirt
4. You Are the Field
5. Breathing Black Ground
6. They Live On
7. Wrong Thought
8. Right Thought
9. Sprinter Fire
10. Forcelessness
11. Below
Tour dates:
5/2 Quebec, QC - Le Cercle *
5/3 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa *
5/4 Montreal, QC - Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal
5/7 Burlington, VT - Burlington City Arts Center *
5/8 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
5/9 Boston, MA -Museum of Fine Arts *
5/10 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live *
5/11 Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum *
5/14 Cincinnati, OH - Contemporary Arts Center *
5/18 Munich, Germany - Theatron Festival
5/19 Berlin, Germany - Volksbühne
5/20 Hannover, Germany - Feinkostlampe
5/22 Köln, Germany - King George
5/23 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Indiestad Festival
5/24 Asse, Belgium - 't Smiske
5/26 London, UK - Bush Hall
5/27 Paris, France - Point FMR
6/20-23 Bondsville, VT - Wanderlust Music Festival
7/11 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
7/18 Chicago, IL - Millennium Park
7/26-27 Calgary, AB - Calgary Folk Festival
7/28 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
8/2-4 Sackville, NB - SappyFest
8/17 Ottawa, ON - Arboretum Music Festival
The album was laid down in Berlin with Nils Frahm, who recorded Neufeld in various locales like an abandoned geodesic dome, an underground parking lot and Studio P4's orchestral recording hall.
The resulting album is a collection of instrumental violin compositions that are occasionally fleshed out with hints of wordless vocals, harmonium, piano and percussion. Influences include Bela Bartok, Steve Reich, Iva Bittova and Arthur Russell, and the album "[flows] through shifting atmospheres and [oscillates] between restrained, stately ambience, emotive études, and raw kinetic energy."
The record will be available on CD and 180-gram vinyl
For a taste of Hero Brother, stream the title track at the bottom of the page. It uses a stomping kick drum to punctuate its nimble violin lines. An album teaser, plus Neufeld's prior performance for Exclaim! TV, is also below.
Neufeld will be playing a number of solo shows in the coming months. Some of these gigs are with Colin Stetson, and there are a number of Canadian appearances. Scroll past the tracklist to see the itinerary.
Hero Brother:
1. Tower
2. Hero Brother
3. Dirt
4. You Are the Field
5. Breathing Black Ground
6. They Live On
7. Wrong Thought
8. Right Thought
9. Sprinter Fire
10. Forcelessness
11. Below
Tour dates:
5/2 Quebec, QC - Le Cercle *
5/3 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa *
5/4 Montreal, QC - Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal
5/7 Burlington, VT - Burlington City Arts Center *
5/8 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
5/9 Boston, MA -Museum of Fine Arts *
5/10 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live *
5/11 Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum *
5/14 Cincinnati, OH - Contemporary Arts Center *
5/18 Munich, Germany - Theatron Festival
5/19 Berlin, Germany - Volksbühne
5/20 Hannover, Germany - Feinkostlampe
5/22 Köln, Germany - King George
5/23 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Indiestad Festival
5/24 Asse, Belgium - 't Smiske
5/26 London, UK - Bush Hall
5/27 Paris, France - Point FMR
6/20-23 Bondsville, VT - Wanderlust Music Festival
7/11 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
7/18 Chicago, IL - Millennium Park
7/26-27 Calgary, AB - Calgary Folk Festival
7/28 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
8/2-4 Sackville, NB - SappyFest
8/17 Ottawa, ON - Arboretum Music Festival
