Widow City
From Blueberry Boat
Release Date: October 9th, 2007
Contents |
Tracklisting:
- The Philadelphia Grand Jury
- Duplexes of the Dead
- Automatic Husband
- Ex-Guru
- Clear Signal From Cairo
- My Egyptian Grammar
- The Old Hag Is Sleeping
- Japanese Slippers
- Navy Nurse
- Uncle Charlie
- Right by Conquest
- Restorative Beer
- Wicker Whatnots
- Cabaret of the Seven Devils
- Pricked in the Heart
- Widow City
Resources
Thrill Jockey's 'Widow City' press kit
Reviews
And this from a random poster on a FF-themed message board:
A User review:
"Produced by Matthew Friedberger over one very snowy, cold winter by Lake Michigan, engineered by Bill Skibbe and Jessica Ruffins, and mixed by John McEntire at Soma Studios in Chicago, Widow City includes the band’s first time use of the Chamberlain, a keyboard that triggers tapes loops of other instruments to create its library of sounds. The Chamberlain acts as the sole source of strings, woodwinds and harp sounds found on Widow City, and, as such, the sounds on the tapes are widows in relation to their long lost Husband recorded performances, living on and on, dressed in the audio black that is the lack of high end on these analog tapes. This idea is important to note on this recording, an LP where loss mingles with love, where husbands sit still on their honeymoon, where gurus are shunned, where words of affection are too faint to ever be carried by the winds of Cairo and more. When playing live, the band deconstructs the form of the songs on their records and reconstructs them anew for each tour; A similar approach was taken to Widow City as a whole, both within individual songs and as a linear narrative throughout the album. The overall arc of the songs as a group, as well as the transitions between songs (sometimes completely seamless), is definitely intended. Like past recordings, multi-instrumentalist Matthew plays everything on this record except the drums (played by Robert D’Amico, an essential part of the band’s live show for the last two years). The songs were inspired in part by advertisements from women’s magazines of the early 70’s, an imagined Ouija board by which Matthew might ascertain what his sister would want him to write about, and the cultural pages of alternative lifestyle weekly papers, or not. But of course, like all things The Fiery Furnaces create, to think these three elements are literally all there is to these songs and lyrics would be incredibly short-sighted. These references are the jumping off points; ultimately, the songs take us on their own journeys, through “duplexes of the dead” and “woods without berries,” to places where guitars flicker through sinewy keyboards. We’re moved by some of the deepest, head-nodding grooves found on any Fiery Furnaces album, punctuated by some of the most tempestuous musical storms found on any Fiery Furnaces album. “Ex-Guru” shimmers with one of the Furnaces’ most scintillating choruses, while “Restorative Beer” reverberates with bluesy guitar stabs contrasting the crashing cymbals that weave with the lead organ line. “Clear Signal from Cairo” is meditative and bass-heavy, and title track “Widow City” is a ballad infused with a nautical air through the instruments tipping from one side of the verse to the other. Widow City’s songs are precise, chaotic, and absolutely genius, anchored by some of Eleanor’s strongest vocal performances ever recorded (see “My Egyptian Grammar” for an idea of her range). Once you hear this record, we absolutely believe that you’ll be hard-pressed to find another album this fall as compelling, beautiful, strange, dense and magical as this one. Widow City is musical terrain entirely of their own making, and from a band as extraordinary and original as The Fiery Furnaces, we would expect nothing less."
Pre-Release Self-Coverage
- KCRW jam session 23rd Oct 2006
Matt (Jokingly): "The next album will star a dog we haven't got yet, or perhaps a pre-verbal cousin."
(More seriously): "It'll be Van Morrison, Robert Plant, not starring them, but a 70's English Rich Guy sound."
- (excerpt from article/interview with Eleanor Chart Attack on 04/08/06)
While the Furnaces have yet to seriously hash out any material for the next album — that'll have to wait until after their last leg of shows and a short break — Friedberger says she's already been brainstorming verses. Her smooth, low voice picks up when she mentions the lyrics that she scribbled that morning. There are lines inspired by a recent tour stop in Auckland, New Zealand, and maybe even a few about a late-night quest for Canadian beer that took her and Matt across the Quebec border. There are no guarantees that there will be a number singing the virtues of Labatt Blue, however.
The songs are pending, but the sound seems pretty much decided. Matt has already been quoted saying that the next record will have a "'70s rock" style, which Eleanor clarifies will be in the vein of Rolling Thunder-era Bob Dylan. And expect more than just the Furnaces' signature keyboards. Since leaving the synths at home on this last tour, Friedberger says the Furnaces may be looking to recreate their on-stage guitar-rock arrangements.
- (excerpt from interview in The Enquirer on 23/06/06)
"The record's gonna be like (the Bob Dylan tour) Rolling Thunder Revue, a '70s rock record, with faux-cheesy piano playing, a dead drum sound and pedal steel," Friedberger says. "We're supposed to tour again in the fall, and we're going to need to change up our set, so I was thinking about arranging all the songs for timbales. Eleanor could wear a robe and have a saxophone around her neck that she wouldn't play."
- (excerpt from interview in Art Head Magazine on 21/06/06)
BD: I heard the next record is going to have an Afrobeat influence?
MF: No. The next tour’s gonna sound like that, but not the record.
BD: Do you know what the next record is going to sound like?
MF: It’s going to be a rock record. 70’s rock sounds. Stuff that’s really going to flatter Eleanor’s voice. Not that it’s in need of flattery.
