Since forming Giant Sand in the early '80s, prolific indie Americana singer-songwriter Howe Gelb has amassed both a mighty back catalogue and lengthy cast of contributors, and the project will once again expand on both fronts via their next album, Tucson.
Set to be released June 11 through Fire Records, the LP finds the outfit's membership bumped up to a 12-piece, including a Danish string section. The move has led Gelb to rechristen the band Giant Giant Sand, and the massive ensemble was gathered the songwriter to deliver a self-described "country rock opera" that he's allegedly been planning for decades.
The song cycle fittingly starts off in Tucson, where Gelb was born and raised, and centres on a "semi-grizzled man with overt boyish naïveté" who undertakes a life-changing road trip. Along the way, the protagonist ditches his possessions and his girlfriend, gets jailed near the Mexican border, and finds love again in a train saloon.
Song samples have yet to arrive, but you can check the tracklisting below and the cover art above.
Tucson:
1. Wind Blown Waltz
2. Forever And A Day
3. Detained
4. Lost Love
5. Plane Of Existence
6. Undiscovered Country
7. Love Comes Over You
8. Thing Like That
9. The Sun Belongs To You
10. We Don't Play Tonight
11. Ready Or Not
12. Mostly Wrong
13. Hard Morning In A Soft Blur
14. Recovery Mission
15. Slag Heap
16. Not The End Of The World
17. Caranito
18. Out Of The Blue
19. New River
Set to be released June 11 through Fire Records, the LP finds the outfit's membership bumped up to a 12-piece, including a Danish string section. The move has led Gelb to rechristen the band Giant Giant Sand, and the massive ensemble was gathered the songwriter to deliver a self-described "country rock opera" that he's allegedly been planning for decades.
The song cycle fittingly starts off in Tucson, where Gelb was born and raised, and centres on a "semi-grizzled man with overt boyish naïveté" who undertakes a life-changing road trip. Along the way, the protagonist ditches his possessions and his girlfriend, gets jailed near the Mexican border, and finds love again in a train saloon.
Song samples have yet to arrive, but you can check the tracklisting below and the cover art above.
Tucson:
1. Wind Blown Waltz
2. Forever And A Day
3. Detained
4. Lost Love
5. Plane Of Existence
6. Undiscovered Country
7. Love Comes Over You
8. Thing Like That
9. The Sun Belongs To You
10. We Don't Play Tonight
11. Ready Or Not
12. Mostly Wrong
13. Hard Morning In A Soft Blur
14. Recovery Mission
15. Slag Heap
16. Not The End Of The World
17. Caranito
18. Out Of The Blue
19. New River