On May 14th, Wild Nothing will follow-up last year’s Nocturne with a new EP titled Empty Estate. Recorded by Al Carlson (Clinic, Yeasayer) in New York this past January, the seven-track effort sees frontman Jack Tatum “exploring new sounds, new instruments and a new voice for Wild Nothing.” As a first listen, the group has unveiled the video for lead single “A Dancing Shell”.
Although clip doesn’t feature sword impalement, that doesn’t make it any less intense. If anything, the barrage of vivid geometric shapes that eventually take humanoid form and start posing and flexing is arguably just as damaging to one’s sensibilities for whole other variety of reasons. On the plus side, the tune’s effervescent swirl of chirpy synth and sturdy bass is perhaps the happiest soundtrack to what seems like experiencing a complete and total break with reality. Watch it below (via Pitchfork).
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In an expanded statement, Tatum detailed the EP’s emotional development:
“This is a record that happened very fast for me. We had just gotten back from a particularly long European tour last November, our first supporting Nocturne, and I was feeling a lot of things. I found myself struggling with what it meant to be a musician, with what music in general meant to me and what part I could possibly play in it. Playing the same songs every night for months left me bored with myself. But when I got home, for the first time in a while it suddenly seemed that the pressure was off. We didn’t have any tours planned for several months and I started to remember again why I love music in the first place. I listened to Brian Eno and David Bowie for weeks on end and felt like I was hearing them for the first time. I took a trip to Miami with my girlfriend. I visited my family. I felt free to try things musically that I would have stifled before. The songs on this EP were recorded over a 10-day period and are a reflection of this time. Of all the frustrations and successes and moments of peace in between.”
Empty Estate Tracklist:
01. The Body In Rainfall
02. Ocean Repeating (Big-eyed Girl)
03. On Guyot
04. Ride
05. Data World
06. A Dancing Shell
07. Hachiko
Wild Nothing 2013 Tour Dates:
05/23 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
05/25 – London, UK @ Field Day
05/30-06/02 – Porto, PT @ Optimus Primavera Sound
06/08 – New York, NY @ Governors Ball
07/24 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *
07/25 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
08/03 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
08/04 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
* = w/ Father John Misty
