Back in 2010, Azure Ray returned after several years away by releasing the comeback album Drawing Down the Moon. Now, the Southern dream pop duo are getting ready to follow it up with a new record, As Above So Below, due out September 4 through Saddle Creek.
Although the Saddle Creek store refers to As Above So Below as a LP, it only contains six songs, meaning that it's more like an EP (especially since the songs are all around 3 or 4 minutes long).
In a statement, member Orenda Fink described the release as "Azure Ray in an alternate universe." The product description notes that Fink's bandmate Maria Taylor was eight months pregnant during the recording process and this inspired "themes of alternative universes, Mother Nature, beginnings, endings, and re-birth [to] surface in the songs."
The record is said to be "more minimal and more electronic experience than past albums," with sonic touchstones that include James Blake, Nicolas Jaar and Apparat. That said, the collection still has "that unmatched, dreamy essence that arises when Fink and Taylor harmonize." Orenda's husband Todd Fink, a member of the Faint, helped out in the studio, as did frequent collaborator Andy LeMaster.
The tracklist and Azure Ray's tour schedule are below. The eerie opening track "Scattered Like Leaves" can also be heard at Stereogum. Pre-order As Above So Below right here.
As Above So Below:
1. Scattered Like Leaves
2. Red Balloon
3. Unannounced
4. To This Life
5. The Heart Has Its Reasons
6. We Could Wake
Tour dates:
9/4 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
9/5 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
9/6 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
9/7 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival
9/9 Washington, DC - Hamiliton
9/10 Philadelphia, PA - The Chapel
9/11 Boston, MA - TT The Bears
9/12 New York, NY - City Winery
9/20 San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Hall
9/21 Los Angeles, CA - Largo
9/22 San Diego, CA - The Irenic
Although the Saddle Creek store refers to As Above So Below as a LP, it only contains six songs, meaning that it's more like an EP (especially since the songs are all around 3 or 4 minutes long).
In a statement, member Orenda Fink described the release as "Azure Ray in an alternate universe." The product description notes that Fink's bandmate Maria Taylor was eight months pregnant during the recording process and this inspired "themes of alternative universes, Mother Nature, beginnings, endings, and re-birth [to] surface in the songs."
The record is said to be "more minimal and more electronic experience than past albums," with sonic touchstones that include James Blake, Nicolas Jaar and Apparat. That said, the collection still has "that unmatched, dreamy essence that arises when Fink and Taylor harmonize." Orenda's husband Todd Fink, a member of the Faint, helped out in the studio, as did frequent collaborator Andy LeMaster.
The tracklist and Azure Ray's tour schedule are below. The eerie opening track "Scattered Like Leaves" can also be heard at Stereogum. Pre-order As Above So Below right here.
As Above So Below:
1. Scattered Like Leaves
2. Red Balloon
3. Unannounced
4. To This Life
5. The Heart Has Its Reasons
6. We Could Wake
Tour dates:
9/4 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
9/5 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
9/6 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
9/7 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival
9/9 Washington, DC - Hamiliton
9/10 Philadelphia, PA - The Chapel
9/11 Boston, MA - TT The Bears
9/12 New York, NY - City Winery
9/20 San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Hall
9/21 Los Angeles, CA - Largo
9/22 San Diego, CA - The Irenic
