aaamusic | On 18, Jul 2010

Blonde Redhead return this fall with the release of Penny Sparkle, the sublime new album from the fêted New York trio.

Released on September 14th (13th outside the US), Penny Sparkle – the band’s third for 4AD – marks another sonic twist in their already adventurous canon. It was made over the last year with the band journeying between New York and Stockholm to work with production duo Van Rivers and The Subliminal Kid (Fever Ray, Glasser) and as with their previous album, 23, Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) was enlisted to mix it.

Kazu Mazino from the band speaks of the record;
“I can’t say what Penny Sparkle is about just yet.
I remember talking to Ed (from 4AD) one day and telling him that I had a vision that I was traveling to far away places to complete it.
(Then) I landed in snowy slippery Stockholm….. and here.
I fell in love with the music like falling for someone you’ve known for a long time.
It was dreamy and sometimes was very stormy.
At times I felt like a shepherd who was trying to herd five stallions into a yard (unsuccessfully).
I felt like I was a link to everyone. I remained still and the others were constantly moving around it.
I am not sure what Penny Sparkle is but I hope I offered to them as much as they offered me.
I know that we have never made a record this way and if I could go back in time, I would do it exactly the same way again.”

Penny Sparkle will come with beautiful packaging (including a deluxe CD format) as designed by long-time collaborators, Stefanie and David from Triboro Design.

You can download the album opener, ‘Here Sometimes’, from the band’s website now – www.blonde-redhead.com.

Blonde Redhead have already announced some forthcoming live shows in Ottawa and Seattle next month and can today reveal that their next return to Europe will be around the album’s release this September. Taking in nine countries (with more to add), their tour finishes on the 29th of September at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London.

Tour details are as below. Please note more dates including a US tour are to be announced soon. UPDATE Italian and German dates have been added.

JULY
16th CANADA Ottawa, Blues Festival
24th UNITED STATES Seattle, Capitol Hill Block Party

SEPTEMBER
11th ITALY Milan, Magazzini Generali (TICKETS)
12th ITALY Rome, Auditorium Parco Della Musica (TICKETS)
13th ITALY Bologna, Estragon (TICKETS)
15th SWITZERLAND Geneva, La Batie (TICKETS)
16th FRANCE Paris, Bataclan (TICKETS)
18th BELGIUM Brussels, AB (TICKETS)
19th HOLLAND Amsterdam, Melkweg (Oude Zal) (TICKETS)
21st DENMARK Copenhagen, VEGA (TICKETS)
22nd NORWAY Oslo, Rockefeller (TICKETS)
23rd SWEDEN Stockholm, Debaser (TICKETS)
24th FINLAND Helsinki, Virgin Oil Co. (TICKETS)
26th GERMANY Berlin, Festaal Kreuzberg (TICKETS)
29th UNITED KINGDOM London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire (TICKETS)