All Eyes Out For You

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter live on KEXP

Currently in the midst of their west coast tour with The Sadies, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter perform four songs from Marble Son on Seattle's KEXP...

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - 'Marble Son' (out NOW!)

 
Okay, seriously, I'll shut up about Marble Son (eventually).  But, as you can probably tell, I haven't been swept away by a record in a long while.  The European edition has been in rotation since around late April, and I'm just constantly finding new layers to appreciate about the album.  To my ears, it sounds like almost nothing else out there at the moment, and it's a thrill to hear a band really come into its own.  I still love all of The Sweet Hereafter's previous three albums, and Marble Son is just another insane leap of creativity.

If you pre-ordered the album from the band, you most likely have it in your hands already.  If not, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Check out the rave review in the new issue of Tone Audio magazine (PDF, pg. 40), which, by the way, is a really fantastic publication I just recently discovered.  The Zinio edition of the magazine is really well-designed for iPad or your computer.  Interestingly, they seem to have a special interest in many of the Southern Lord bands, with whom Sykes & Co. have been occasionally affiliated.

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - 'Marble Son' (Aug. 2)

Well, I suppose I've blogged about little else these past few months (what little blogging I've done).  But - at least until the new Joe Henry album lands in October - Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter's new album Marble Son stands quite tall as my favorite album so far in 2011.  Having sprung for the European release, I've had the chance to live inside this record for a few months, and, like all of Sykes' albums, it has done nothing but burrow deep beneath my skin upon repeated listenings.

If this blog has or ever had a mission, it was to enlighten my few readers to a few artists deserving of more attention.  As time has passed, fewer of those artists really need my help -- do I really need to sell you on the new Wilco album or the latest release from Emmylou Harris?  But Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter remain one of those bands that, remarkably, remain pretty squarely under the radar.  Despite - or because of - their stunning evolution over the course of four records, the band appears to me to have little following outside of the Pacific Northwest (their home base).  Marble Son will be their first fully independent release, and it will be interesting to see if they can parlay a strong showing in Europe to some well-deserved stateside attention.

Granted, Marble Son will be a tough sell.  Seriously, the opening track ("Hushed By Devotion") is over eight minutes long.  Whatever following Sykes & Co. have likely springs from a well of goodwill leftover from their brief existence as an "alt-country" band.  This record is not alt-country, not really anything like it, despite some pedal steel here and there.  It certainly invokes a particular 60's-psychedelia sensibility but is by no means slavishly retro or nostalgiac.  The record certainly has its share of guitar freakouts, but I don't really see how it appeals to the broader jam-band crowd.  Marble Son is a tough beast to wrap your wings around, but it rewards the patient listener, whatever your particular tastes.

So... I have hounded you and will continue to hound you about the new album from Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter entitled Marble Son (and due in the U.S. on Aug. 2).  According to the band's latest Facebook post, initial pre-orders will arrive sometime next week, but pre-orders will continue through this weekend.  The rather lovely 180-gram gatefold LP package will ship with a copy of the CD so you aural junkies can get your fix in every preferred format.

I'll leave you with this interview with Sykes from the 2009 No Depression Festival in Seattle, in which she discusses where the band was just prior to recording Marble Son.  Good stuff and does little to lessen my love for this band...

Jesse Sykes interview at No Depression Festival from KEXP RADIO on Vimeo.

(P.S. When I played this record for my good friend Jason a month ago, he said, "I definitely feel like I'm following Alice down the rabbit hole."  I think that's an endorsement, btw.)

New album from Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter

UPDATE 6/3/2011:  Sykes & Co. have set an August 2 release date for the U.S. release of Marble Son.  You can pre-order the vinyl or CD from the band's website -- all pre-orders will be autographed!  Check out the beautiful vinyl package design by Purpose & Co. (this is a touch cooler than the European vinyl, though very similar).

I'm not sure that I'm more excited about any release in 2011 than the new record from Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter.  Marble Son will be released in Europe on March 29, with a likely release in the US later this summer.

You can direct order the LP or CD directly from their European label, Fargo.  The LP also includes a CD copy of the album and came out to less than $30 USD with shipping.  Rest assured, there's no way I'm waiting til summer to own this album.

And the kicker -- you can stream the record in its entirety right now, which is doing nothing to dispel my enthusiasm...

UPDATE:  The stream appears to no longer be working... hmmmm.  Anyway, it would appear that the CD for the new album is NOW available for shipping from Fargo's store.  The LP is still due on March 29.

UPDATE II:  Stream working again (see below)...  FYI, you can stream four songs from the album on Sykes' website as well - click the 'Listen' button on the left side of the screen.

Albums I still dig: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter

It's very nearly the second anniversary of the release of Like Love, Lust and The Open Halls Of The Soul, the third record from Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter.  As I sit here and listen to it yet again, it's worth noting that I stand very much by my original opinion of the album, and then some.  It has steadily grown into one of my favorite records of the past few years.

In related news, you can download four tracks from the band's recent Daytrotter session here.  While Sykes & Co. work on their next album, you can also pick up the recent Gentleness Of Nothing EP on the band's website (the download version is hi-quality 320kbps files, btw).

UPDATE: In honor of Dan's comment, here's a poster from the show he noted.  How cool is this poster art?