aaamusic | On 14, Dec 2010

WYE OAK
ANNOUNCE EUROPEAN TOUR
NEW ALBUM ‘CIVILIAN’ OUT MARCH 7th
(CITY SLANG)
www.myspace.com/wyeoak ● www.cityslang.com

On March 7, 2011, (March 4 in Germany and Austria) City Slang will release Wye Oak’s third album, Civilian on CD, LP and digital download. Before that, they play London’s Water Rats on January 29th 2011, returning to the UK after their last show supporting Spoon at their ATP show back in November.

On signing Wye Oak, City Slang said “This band has been on and off our radar for quite a bit now. Their last releases did resonate around this here office somewhat, but nothing prepared us for the sheer musical brilliance, the quantum leap that the duo of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack would offer up with this new album of theirs. They have really come out of their shell on Civilian.”

Don’t believe them? See for yourself – the album’s title track (one of last week’s most blogged tracks according to hypemachine) is up for free download here:

Wye Oak wrote what became Civilian between December of 2009 and July of 2010.  The songs “are, as a whole, about aloneness (the positive kind), loneliness (the horrible kind), moving on, and letting go (of people, places, and things),” lyricist/guitarist Jenn Wasner reveals.

After recording and mixing the previous two albums themselves, Wye Oak brought in mixing engineer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Shearwater), who played a pivotal role in the sound of Civilian. “JC definitely pushed us into some exciting and sometimes scary new territory,” multi-instrumentalist Andy Stack says. “It was the most that Jenn and I had ever relinquished control of our music to someone else, but it gave us a chance to step back and see the big picture, whereas on previous recordings we got embroiled in the technical details.”

Civilian is a kind of 21st-century folk music, imbued with dense shoegaze guitars, nearly melodic rhythms, and impeccable splashes of electronic colour. Without leaning on conventional structure, the songs beguile with fascinating chords and melodies, Jenn’s voice and riveting lyrics, mesmerizing rhythms, and an intoxicating aural landscape. Just as good writing has meaning between the lines, Civilian has meaning between the sounds: the combinations of harmonies, timbres, and words summon vivid and ineffable associations just beyond reach.

Jenn sums up the meaning of the album saying, “this collection of songs is called Civilian because I believe everyone wants to be normal, but no one truly is.”

Wye Oak is Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack. They will come to Europe soon and live they don’t mess around. They will nail it, and you!

Wye Oak play London Water Rats on January 19th 2011.