August 31, 2013

Los Campesinos! Fifth Album No Blues Due Oct. 29, Hear Preview Track "What Death Leaves Behind" Now

Los Campesinos! -- No Blues (detail)

As anticipated, Cardiff-based indie heroes Los Campesinos! -- after teasing its title with this video -- disclosed Thursday that indeed its next, fifth long-playing album is titled No Blues, and it will be released next month. Fans are being treated to a free download of the preview track "What Death Leaves Behind" straight away, and we've embedded it below this item for your intense scrutiny and sublime pleasure. No Blues, according to this tumblr post from early July, is the band's darkest, lyrically, to date, "but done with way, way more humour and hooks than Hello Sadness was." "What Death Leaves Behind" launches from a lush, edgeless introduction into a swinging verse built on a dense melodic drone of synth and guitars, and features a lyric seemingly influenced by fronter Gareth Campesinos!' work tending a graveyard. It is classic Los Camp, somewhat in the mode of the last record's preview track, "By Your Hands." The new collection will be the veteran sextet's second release of 2013, as it issued in May the tremendous live set It's A Good Night For A Fist Fight. While that collection featured what may have been the longest Los Campesinos! live set to date (according to some stage chatter therein), No Blues is tidy 10 tracks; the track listing and other information about the LP was unveiled here Thursday. The new record was recorded in June with long-time produced Tom Goodmanson, with guitarist Tom Campesinos! also taking a production credit as well. Pre-orders for No Blues, which is officialy due Oct. 29, have begun; the collection is available on CD, gatefold-sleeved pink vinyl 12" and download along with a number of premiums (hoodies, baseball shirts, pink tie-dyed t-shirts), all of which are laid out for your inspection at the band's Big Cartel dojo here. Los Campesinos! also revealed in July that the aforementioned live record will be released on double cassette for International Cassette Store Day next month. The sextet has nary a weak spot in its catalog; its most recent two full-lengths Hello Sadness and Romance Is Boring were Clicky Clicky's executive editor's top records of 2011 and 2010 respectively. Our hopes are high for No Blues, stream "What Death Leaves Behind" below to find out why.



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