Silver Jews' David Berman Returns with New Album as Purple Mountains

He's also shared "All My Happiness Is Gone" from the LP and will be playing Canada on a North American tour

BY Brock ThiessenPublished May 17, 2019

Silver Jews hero David Berman has at last announced his first album in over a decade. Coming via his new project Purple Mountains, the band's self-titled effort will arrive on July 12 via Drag City. What's more, Purple Mountains has announced a full North American tour, complete with Canadian dates.

Already, Berman has given us a taste of the album — his first since Silver Jews' 2009 LP  Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea — with the stunning new song "All My Happiness Is Gone," which arrived as a record store-exclusive 12-inch last week and has now been treated to its own music video. You can watch the clip, which was directed by Brent Stewart and Matt Boyd, down below.

Here's what Drag City has to tell us about the album:

Purple Mountains is also the name of what will be known as one of his greatest albums — full of double-jointed wit and wisdom, up to the neck in his special recipe of handcrafted country-rock joys and sorrows that single legendary in cracked and broken hearts. The songs of Purple Mountains are a potent brew, stitched together from lifetimes, knitting the drift of the years with the tightest lyric construction Berman's ever attempted. Honesty is archly in the air, but lines of incredible bleakness somehow give way to playful distraction and the hiding of surprises for close listeners.

The album was produced by Woods members Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere. As previously reported, both Earl and Taveniere play on the album as well alongside fellow Woods members Kyle Forester and Aaron Neveu, in addition to Anna St. Louis. As of press time, it's unclear if any of Berman's old Pavement pals contribute to Purple Mountains.

As for that tour, it will kick off in August and hit up a pile of U.S. cities. In addition, the tour will touch down in Toronto on August 27 and Montreal on August 28. You can see the full schedule below, where you'll also find the album tracklist.

Purple Mountains:

1. That's Just the Way I Feel

2. All My Happiness Is Gone

3. Darkness and Cold

4. Snow Is Falling in Manhattan

5. Margaritas at the Mall

6. She's Making Friends, I'm Turning Stranger

7. I Loved Being My Mother's Son

8. Nights That Won't Happen

9. Storyline Fever

10. Maybe I'm the Only One for Me

Tour dates:

08/10 Pine Plains, NY - Huichica Fest
08/11 Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall
08/12 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
08/14 Washington, DC - Black Cat
08/15 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
08/16 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
08/17 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
08/19 Louisville, KY - Odeon
08/20 St. Louis, MO - Duck Room at Blueberry Hill
08/21 Iowa City, IA - The Mill
08/23 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
08/24-25 Chicago, IL - Sleeping Village
08/27 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
08/28 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
08/30 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
08/31 Brooklyn, NY - Murmrr Theatre
09/06 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Festival
09/13 Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
09/14 Walla Walla, WA - Huichica Walla Walla
09/15 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
09/18 San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
09/22 Los Angeles, CA - The Lodge Room

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