NEWS: Baroness' Purple Released Tomorrow, Full Album Streaming Now
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 17, 2015 – Baroness’ highly-anticipated new album, Purple (Abraxan Hymns), which will be released tomorrow, is streaming now via a variety of partners as part of a fan-fueled #FindPurple promotion:
“Morningstar” via Kerrang
“Shock Me” via YourBaroness.com
“Try To Disappear” via Stereogum
“Kerosene” via Nerdist
“Fugue” via Juxtapoz
“Chlorine & Wine” via Brave Words
“The Iron Bell” via Noisey
“Desperation Burns” via Metal Injection
“If I Have To Wake Up (Would You Stop the Rain)” via Drowned In Sound
“Crossroads of Infinity” via Rolling Stone Australia
Marald van Haasteren, a Dutch-based visual artist, created the accompanying videos for the song premieres, as well as the internal drawings for Purple.
Purple has been universally praised in the lead-up to its release with Pitchfork saying the album features “some of the biggest, strong songs Baroness has ever written,” Rolling Stone Australia dubbing it “the most dynamic, robust guitar album this year,” Mojo echoing those sentiments, saying “Baroness have delivered their masterpiece: an album grounding their cosmic heaviosity with earthbound, compelling drama,” and German magazine Visions declaring “the quasi-comeback Purple is their best album to date.” The album has already landed on a number of year-end best of lists including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Decibel and Stereogum.
“After releasing a lengthy and investigative record like Yellow & Green we all felt that we needed to make something much more direct and immediate,” explains band founder and singer/guitar player John Baizley of the approach behind Purple. “We wanted to write with our normal focus on artistry, balanced against an increased level of energy and focus. It was important for us to write our new songs with the type of enthusiasm and expressiveness that could act as a counterpoint to the album’s dark themes. As a result, the music came out in an intense, heavy and sonically captivating in a new way, which was important, loathe, as we are to fall into any kind of complacency pitfall or formulaic songwriting routine. Purple is the most fully realized representation of our intention as a band; considering the amount of physical and mental energy spent writing it, we have accomplished something which would have seemed impossible to us a couple of years ago.”
The band recorded the ten-song album with producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT) at the helm, whom Baizley said “He’s been on the top of my list since day one. I never thought he’d work with us. I absolutely worship his recordings.” Purple also marked the first time Baizley and Pete Adams (guitar, vocals) recorded with their 2013 recruited rhythm section of Nick Jost (bass) and Sebastian Thomson (drums), something the foursome discussed in the behind-the-scenes clip “Fifty Percent” (https://youtu.be/MXHUkOQh2_g). “I don’t think it’s too often you can replace two people in your band like that and have it work out just right off the bat, like clockwork,” said Adams of Jost and Thomson. That clip is one of ten videos the band has shared in recent months, documenting the making of Purple both with footage but also candid interviews with the band members (www.youtube.com/baronessmusic).
As Baroness wrap up a three-week trek of sold out, intimate club performances, the band has announced an extensive European tour, kicking off on Feb. 24 at the Engine Room in Southampton, UK; the same city Baroness was driving towards the day of their now infamous 2012 bus accident. Tickets for all European shows are on sale now via yourbaroness.com/tour.
December 18 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery SOLD OUT
December 19 Manayunk, PA Main Street Music In-Store Appearance
December 19 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s SOLD OUT
December 20 Brooklyn, NY Rough Trade In-Store Appearance
December 20 Brooklyn, NY Saint Vitus Bar SOLD OUT
February 24 Southampton, UK Engine Room
February 25 Birmingham, UK 02 Institute
February 26 Leeds, UK Lees University Stylus
February 28 Glasgow, UK The Garage
February 29 Manchester, UK 02 Ritz
March 1 London, UK KOKO
March 3 Paris, France Le Trabendo
March 4 Bilbao, Spain Bilbao Kafe Antzokia
March 5 Madrid, Spain Teatro Barcelo (Sound Isidro Fest Special)
March 6 Lisbon, Portugal Paradise Garage
March 8 Barcelona, Spain Razmatazz 2
March 9 Lyon, France Le Transbordeur Club
March 10 Milan, Italy Magazzini Generali
March 11 Zurich, Switzerland Mascott
March 12 Vienna, Austria Flex
March 15 Leipzig, Germany Conne Island
March 16 Munich, Germany Backstage Werk
March 17 Prague, Czech Republic Futurum
March 18 Warsaw, Poland Proxima
March 20 Berlin, Germany SO36
March 21 Cologne, Germany Stollwerck
March 22 Brussels, Belgium AB Theatre
March 23 Utrecht, Netherlands Tivoli de Helling
March 26 Hamburg, Germany Gruenspan
March 27 Malmo, Sweden KB
March 29 Stockholm, Sweden Debaser Medis
March 30 Oslo, Norway Rockefeller
March 31 Copenhagen, Denmark Vega Small
April 1 Hannover, Germany Faust
April 2 Wiesbaden, Germany Alter Schlachthof
April 23 Mexico City, MX Vive Latino Festival
Pre-order packages for Purple, which feature instant downloads of “Morningstar,” “Shock Me” and “Chlorine & Wine” (official video here: https://youtu.be/DnYO7iQfQDQ) as well as a limited edition colored vinyl version of the new album, two picture discs, t-shirts and other unique items are available now via this link: http://smarturl.it/dpurple. Digital pre-orders, which also include instant downloads of “Morningstar,” “Shock Me” and “Chlorine & Wine,” are available via iTunes (http://smarturl.it/ipurple) and AmazonMP3 (http://smarturl.it/apurple).
www.instagram.com/yourbaroness
Photo credit: Jimmy Hubbard
