Indie Rock Innovator Kristin Hersh Confirms New Album 'Clear Pond Road'

Renowned singer, guitarist and songwriter Kristin Hersh confirms and unveils the title of her upcoming twelfth solo album Clear Pond Road set for release September 8, along with new single and visualizer “Dandelion." Preorder the record HERE.

“Dandelion’s main image is climbing a fire escape up to my dressing room in an alley outside a club I was playing (I’ve never needed to invent metaphors; they’re everywhere),” Hersh recounts. “Anybody in love is always climbing to those eyes, you know? We’ve voyeurs because we can’t ever know the beloved as completely as we want to.”

Clear Pond Road continues the juxtaposition of dark and light –dark sunshine, as Hersh puts it– that characterizes Hersh’s legendary work with Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave but goes even further inward as it explores the intimacy and complexity that sits alongside Hersh’s fierce independence.

“Passion sounds less angry here, more grateful, I think.” Hersh reflects. “Sweeter, sadder, and somehow no less alive.”

Hersh wrote, performed, and produced Clear Pond Road at Stable Sound Studio. She incorporates strings and ambient field recordings on the record to lushly cinematic effect, with the close-up intimacy and sensory nature of each track culminating in a record that resembles a sonic memoir, or a home movie caught in time.

“Some records demand to be made,” says Hersh. “And you know this is the case when the songs function as systems in a body. I octavized an acoustic baritone as the skeleton, cellos are the lungs, a Nashville-strung Collings and glockenspiel were the fingertips feeling around in this weird-ass dark space, and drums are always your heart, of course… but the vocals are a strange narrator here. A narrator lost in the story, of all things, more like eyes.”

In addition, Hersh confirms an international tour in support of the record, including dates in the UK, Ireland, and Australia, with U.S. dates to come. See full tour routing below.

Hersh cofounded Throwing Muses in high school, and after earning a devoted following the group was the first American group to be signed to the beloved British label 4AD.

Amidst international touring, releasing ten solo albums (multiple independently) and founding her own label, Hersh went on to form the power rock trio 50 Foot Wave and publish 3 books, including her acclaimed memoir, Rat Girl. Hersh was one of the first artists to break outside of the traditional label system, using a fan supported structure to fund her work.

CLEAR POND ROAD INTERNATIONAL TOUR

September 27—Exeter, UK—The Phoenix Arts Centre
September 29—Ramsgate, UK—St George’s Church
September 30—Oxford, UK—Florence Park Community Centre
October 1—Liverpool, UK—Philharmonic
October 3—Bristol, UK—Strange Brew
October 4—Cardiff, UK—Acapella Club
October 5—Reading, UK—South Street Arts Centre
October 6—Cambridge, UK—Storey’s Field
October 8—Norwich, UK—Arts Centre
October 9—Nottingham, UK—Metronome
October 11—Leeds, UK—Mill Hill Chapel
October 12—Manchester, UK—St Michael’s Ancoats
October 14—Glasgow, UK—Mono
October 15—Edinburgh, UK—Summerhall (Dissection Room)
October 17—Newcastle, UK—Cluny
October 18—Hebden Bridge, UK—Trades Club
October 19—Kilkenny, Ireland—Cleere's
October 20—Galway, Ireland—Roisin Dubh
October 21—Dublin, Ireland—Pavilion Theatre
October 22—Bangor, UK—The Court House
October 23—Dundalk, Ireland—The Spirit Store
October 24—Kendal, UK—The Old Brewery
October 25—Leek, UK—Foxlowe Arts Centre
October 26—Birmingham, UK—Hare And Hounds
October 28—London, UK—St John at Bethnal Green
October 29—Brighton, UK—Komedia
November 2—Brisbane, Australia—Black Bear Lodge
November 3—Canberra, Australia—Smith’s Alternative
November 5—St Kilda, Australia—Nemo Music Hall
November 8—Melbourne, Australia—Northcote Social Club
November 9—Newton, Australia—Vanguard
November 10—Katoomba, Australia—Baroque Room

Photo credit: Pete Mellekas

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