Austin-based outsider pop artist Bugskull (aka Sean Byrne) may have issued his full-band LP Communication in 2009, but considering the record had been completed in 2001, it's been quite some time since he's laid new tunes to tape. Byrne has now let loose his first collection of new songs in over 10 years, Hidden Mountain, which came out on very limited vinyl run this summer and will now get a wide CD release via Scratch/Shrimper/Almost Halloween Time on October 30.
A press release for the seven-song set notes that this is the first recorded material from Byrne since 2002's Bugskull & the Big White Cloud LP and is described as a "stark and airy album of deeply personal songs born during the recent collapse of his marriage."
Byrne himself noted that the album came after an extended hiatus that found him attaining a degree in special education and celebrating the birth of his two sons. Regrettably, it clearly wasn't all good, with his marriage falling apart in 2009, but his relationship issues ended up influencing his new tunes.
"It was during this year that I wrote the songs for Hidden Mountain," Byrne said in a statement. "My goal in writing the songs for this album was to be completely honest and open about the feelings I was having about life at that time. And so I let the dark shine through. The issues with the relationship mirrored my sense of alienation within life, and the songs explore this, either individually or combined within the same song."
The album, which hosts six personal originals and a take on Beck's lovelorn Sea Change number "Lost Cause," was tracked in 2010 at Byrne's friend Aaron Day's Berlin studio. Byrne recorded his vocal and guitar tracks in five days, while Day added other sounds on his own afterwards. You can check the tracklisting below and the cover above.
Hidden Mountain:
1. Old Town
2. Hidden Mountain
3. The Lights
4. Wolves
5. Early Winter, Hoping For An Early Spring
6. Lost Cause
7. To Be The Head And Not The Tail
A press release for the seven-song set notes that this is the first recorded material from Byrne since 2002's Bugskull & the Big White Cloud LP and is described as a "stark and airy album of deeply personal songs born during the recent collapse of his marriage."
Byrne himself noted that the album came after an extended hiatus that found him attaining a degree in special education and celebrating the birth of his two sons. Regrettably, it clearly wasn't all good, with his marriage falling apart in 2009, but his relationship issues ended up influencing his new tunes.
"It was during this year that I wrote the songs for Hidden Mountain," Byrne said in a statement. "My goal in writing the songs for this album was to be completely honest and open about the feelings I was having about life at that time. And so I let the dark shine through. The issues with the relationship mirrored my sense of alienation within life, and the songs explore this, either individually or combined within the same song."
The album, which hosts six personal originals and a take on Beck's lovelorn Sea Change number "Lost Cause," was tracked in 2010 at Byrne's friend Aaron Day's Berlin studio. Byrne recorded his vocal and guitar tracks in five days, while Day added other sounds on his own afterwards. You can check the tracklisting below and the cover above.
Hidden Mountain:
1. Old Town
2. Hidden Mountain
3. The Lights
4. Wolves
5. Early Winter, Hoping For An Early Spring
6. Lost Cause
7. To Be The Head And Not The Tail
