Widowspeak Share Cover of Neil Young’s ‘Harvest Moon’
Today New York four piece Widowspeak share their cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” On it the band re-interpret the classic track with Molly Hamilton’s wistful vocals and Robert Earl Thomas’ lashings of delicate guitar – while at the same time, preserving the folk essence.
Widowspeak have received much praise for their most recent album Expect the Best which was released via Captured Tracks in August. It’s their heaviest record to date, but never loses the sense of quiet intimacy that they are known for. After a tour of the US where they played to packed houses coast to coast, Widowspeak will be embarking on the European / UK leg of the tour with dates kicking off on November 13. Tour dates below.
Expect the Best is the follow up to 2015’s All Yours. While previous albums were conceived as a duo with lead guitarist Robert Earl Thomas, the new LP finds Widowspeak playing to the specific strengths of the current touring incarnation (James Jano on drums, Willy Muse on bass). The album, recorded by Kevin MacMahon (Swans, Real Estate), exhibits a marked increase in energy that reflects the band’s live show and the organic way it was created: by four people in a room together. The band collectively navigate dynamic changes with subtlety and restraint; the nine tracks here reach highs of wide-eyed lushness and plumb the depths of resigned melancholy. Their usual palette of dusty guitars and angular twang are still here front and center, but now with a bit more 90s homage, even if abstractly.
“Widowspeak fuses lightness and darkness like few others … On each successive album, bandleader Molly Hamilton adds a few more layers to an atmospheric, slow-burning sound that conjures deep melancholy, even as it indulges in the lilting majesty of shoegazing rock.” – NPR
“mesmerizingly introspective, nakedly nostalgic” – AV Club
“familiar vintage textures and dreamy vocals only partially disguise a sense that all may not be well. The alt-rock influence slips in as a brooding chill, a spookiness that never found such voice on past Widowspeak albums.” – Spin
“The guitars, in all their distorted glory, are the standout here, while distant oohs build an extra level of intrigue to an ominous and downright sleek song.” – Stereogum
“pretty much as cool as it gets, just without all of the pretentiousness that’s expected of any indie rock band.” – Baeble
EU / UK Tour Dates:
November
13 – Hasselt, BE – Autumn Falls @ MOD
14 – Amsterdam, NL – Sugarfactory
15 – Utrecht, NL – Db’s
16 – Liege, BE – Kultura
17 – Birmingham, UK – Actress & Bishop
18 – Glasgow, UK – Nice n Sleazy
20 – London, UK – Oslo
21 – Brighton, UK – Sticky Mikes Frog Bar
22 – Paris, FR – Espace B
23 – Rotterdam, NL – Rotown
24 – Mannheim, DE – Forum
26 – Berlin, DE – Volksbühne
27 – Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang
28 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega
29 – Stockholm, SWE – Obaren
30 – Oslo, NO – Revolver
December
01 – Gothenburg, SWE – Oceanen
02 – Lund, SWE – Mejeriet
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