NOW IT'S OVERHEAD to Release First-Ever Vinyl Editions of Albums
The five-song digital EP IN THE BEGINNING will arrive via Saddle Creek Records.
NOW IT'S OVERHEAD is set to release its albums on vinyl for the first time, marking a new chapter for the band's back catalog. The announcement arrives alongside plans for a five-song digital EP titled IN THE BEGINNING, which will be released through Saddle Creek.
Now It's Overhead, the project of Athens, GA-based musician/producer/engineer/visual artist Andy LeMaster, announced that Saddle Creek will issue its three acclaimed albums–Now It's Overhead (2001), Fall Back Open (2004), and Dark Light Daybreak (2006)–on vinyl for the first time ever. Newly remastered by LeMaster and arriving as a limited edition run of 500 pressed on Ecomix, the vinyl releases will be accompanied by in the beginning, a five-song digital EP featuring the band's first new music since 2006: 'eleven-seven-thirty-five,' written around the time of the 2001 self-titled album, and 'sigh let go,' composed specifically for the EP. It also includes songs 'the garden house' (originally released as part of a fundraising campaign for Brian Eno's EarthPercent Foundation), 'Dark Cycle' (previously found on the vinyl version of the Saddle Creek 50 sampler), and 'The Book of Love,' a cover of The Magnetic Fields' from Now It's Overhead's 2004 single 'Wait In A Line.' The 3LP bundle will also include a limited edition signed print of the EP art. The vinyl and in the beginning EP will be released on September 18, 2026 and are now available for preorder.
Of 'eleven-seven-thirty-five,' LeMaster explains:
''eleven-seven-thirty-five' was written and recorded in the same time period as the songs that became the first now it's overhead album. it was an earlier song among that bunch. it almost made the record and i'm nearly certain we played it live at the first few now it's overhead shows. i rediscovered it recently while transferring some old reels of tape and i had forgotten how fully formed it is as a song and a recording.
hearing it now, the lyrics encapsulate the charged curiosity of that time period; the sense of possibility and wonder; the excitement of uncertainty. there's a thread of longing in the lyrics to find love and connection while still early on my journey of self-discovery as a queer person. the imagery of being on the road was directly informed by a lot of bright eyes van tours around that time.
for the recording, clay played the drums and i did the rest. i was particularly pleased with how the oddly transitioning lush but trippy bridge turned out. this was before we had pro tools, so i remember the pain and delight of manually syncing up the tape machine to the ensoniq sampler to blend, bend, and manipulate the various vocal samples.
coming across it recently, i'm surprised i left it off of the first record, and i'm stoked to release it now.'
Now It's Overhead emerged in the early 2000s alongside the era-defining Saddle Creek scene, and its debut album was the first released by the label from a non-Nebraska band. Always essentially a solo project for LeMaster, its recordings frequently featured fellow Athenites Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor (of Azure Ray), while Fall Back Open also had guest vocals from Michael Stipe and Conor Oberst (both of whom LeMaster still collaborates with to this day). Now It's Overhead has drawn press attention from outlets including ELLE, Interview, MAGNET, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Teen Vogue, Alternative Press, and more.
Now It's Overhead will celebrate the release with a rare performance at Athens' 40 Watt Club on October 10th, their first since 2007.
Now It's Overhead Live
10/10/26 - Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club (w/ Lona)
Photo Credit: David Belisle Now It
Photo Credit: David Belisle Now It