Thus:Owls | New album “Harbours” & Tour | 2 Oct
Simon & Erika Angell – Photo: Tim Georgeson
“…the record sounds less like an ideal couple’s vacation than it does the weight of being apart” – THE FADER
Thus:Owls is now blessing us with their beautifully cinematic sophomore album ‘Harbours’, the follow-up to 2009′s debut ‘Cardiac Malformations’ which opened up the world to the Swedish Grammy-nominated “exquisitely haunting vocals from singer Erika Angell” (Billboard) and the “multifaceted” (Guitar Player) guitarist Simon Angell. Though the husband and wife are the main creative force behind this Canadian/Swedish liaison, Thus:Owls incorporates the influences of several other musicians in their productions and live performances.
The couple, who met in 2007 on the stage of the famed Paradiso in Amsterdam, have during the last four years lived on the road and in studios throughout Europe and North America – not only touring as Thus:Owls together with bands such as Karkwa, Plants & Animals and Little Dragon – but also in other bands (Simon Angell is the guitarist in Patrick Watson Band; Erika Angell singing with Josef & Erika, The Moth, Loney Dear and others).
At Christmas time 2010, the band packed up their belongings and headed south towards France and a little village on the banks of La Seine, just east of Paris. In a castle that houses studio La Frette – hidden, like a well kept secret behind high stone walls – they settled in to work on their second album ‘Harbours’, craft-fully puzzled together with additional recordings in Stockholm and Montréal.
Thus:Owls – Harbours
Avalanche | 2 Oct 2012
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TRACKLIST
1. Island
2. Museum
3. I Weed The Garden
4. White Night
5. When They Fight
6. It’s Gone Now
7. Farmers In Japan
8. The Tree
9. Roots
Erika – often compared in media to Scandinavian legendary voices such as Björk and Karin Dreijer – hails from the small Orust Island on the rugged west coast of Sweden. Simon is born and raised in Montréal, Quebec where the Stockholm-founded Thus:Owls decided in early 2012 to settle in on a more permanent basis.
Erika & Simon’s years of life on the road as musicians and their remote origins have kept them often separated, which can be sensed on ‘Harbours’ with its undertone of longing and despair. ‘Harbours’ contains nine compositions, or rather stories, about everything from love to culture differences, to the statues of Egypt and Japanese subway suicides. All pieced together, the album blends the two individuals’ experiences of world culture, human interactions and relationships – as Erika explains; “every human a new harbour”. The compositions develop in surprising directions and are tastefully framed by intriguing arrangements.
In addition to Erika & Simon no less than ten musicians collaborated on the production of ‘Harbours’ ranging from percussion, trombones, saxophones, choir and strings – giving the album a grand atmosphere capturing every aspect of their sea-crossing life journey. The core musicians besides Simon & Erika have been bassist Martin Höper (Koop, Rigmor Gustafsson, Last Days Of April), drummer Ola Hultgren (Ane Brun, Loney Dear, Koop), pianist Cecilia Persson (Paavo, Lina Nyberg), plus the hallmark of sound engineer Mathieu Parisien (Patrick Watson, Karkwa).
THUS:OWLS TOUR FALL 2012
Sep 20 Salle de spectacle régionales Desjardins – New Richmond CAN *
Sep 21 Salle Desjardins-Telus – Rimouski CAN *
Sep 22 Théâtre de Baie-Comeau – Baie-Comeau CAN *
Sep 23 Salle Jean-Marc Dion – Sept-Îles CAN *
Sep 26 Salle Léo-Paul Therrien – Drummondville CAN *
Sep 27 Théâtre Granada – Sherbrooke CAN *
Sep 28 Musée Canadien des Civilisations – Gatineau/Ottawa CAN *
Sep 29 Musée Canadien des Civilisations – Gatineau/Ottawa CAN *
Oct 02 Le Cercle – Quebec City, CAN TICKETS **
Oct 03 Le Lion d’Or – Montréal CAN TICKETS ON SALE AUG 30 12pm ***
Oct 04 Vieux St-Pierre – Victoriaville CAN
Oct 18 Le Zaricot – Ste-Hyacinthe CAN
Oct 19 Théâtre du Vieux Terrebonne – Terrebonne CAN
* w/ Patrick Watson
** Album Launch Show Québec City
*** Album Launch Show Montréal w/ The Sin & The Swoon
For the fall tour 2012, the main live musicians with Thus:Owls will be the above-mentioned Martin Höper, together with keyboardist Parker Shper (Leif Vollebekk, Trey Anastasio) and drummer Stef Schneider (The Luyas, Belle Orchestra).
VIDEO: White Night – Premiered by The Fader Aug 13
Visit Thus:Owls PRESS ROOM for downloads, high res press assets, and more
Direct press inquiries to: jonas@edvinssonpublicity.com