Toronto rock duo Bedouin Soundclash just released their critically-acclaimed fifth studio album MASS via Easy Star Records/Mr. Bongo/Sony Canada. The duo is currently touring with Matisyahu with a handful of northeast dates to close out 2019.
While pulling from their past catalog of post-punk world-beat tendencies, the band journey further into New
Orleans jazz, afro-pop, electronic and gospel on their latest offering, reflecting a creative rebirth influenced by the cities and musicians that surrounded them.
Co-produced by
Bedouin Soundclash and legendary Philadelphia house DJ King Britt, along with musical direction from
Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall, MASS spans two communities, recorded at Marigny Studio's in New
Orleans with the
Preservation Hall Jazz Band and in Vancouver at St. James
Church with the children of the St. James Music Academy.
Almost a decade on from the release of their critically acclaimed 2010 album Light The Horizon, lead singer
Jay Malinowski and bassist Eon
Sinclair have written arguably their most cohesive and all-encompassing album in their eighteen-year history, after a period where it wasn't clear whether they would record any music together again. Jay wrote a novel and released two solo albums while Eon was busy doing session work and DJing. "One morning I was sitting at the piano in my house and "Clock Work" came to me," says Jay. "I thought, this is something new, I think it's a
Bedouin song-I put it on a break-beat and sampled these horns from an old big band swing record and sent it off to Eon."
From the direction of this initial demo, the band called up
Ben Jaffe of
Preservation Hall Jazz Band about making a record. "We had spoken about doing some sort of collaboration a long time back and this seemed like the perfect storm," says Eon. So setting up shop in an old speak-easy jazz club converted into a studio, the band headed down to New
Orleans for a month and filled it with musicians for three weeks. Brothers in Arms included
Preservation Hall Jazz Band on horns,
Mike Dillon (Les Claypool) on vibes/marimba,
Rick Nelson (Afghan Whigs, Polyphonic Spree) on strings, Chuck Treece on drums (Bad Brains, McRad), The Asylum Chorus Choir and Vancouver's St. James Music Academy Children's Choir.
Mirroring the magnetic energy of New Orleans, MASS is a dense sonic journey that incorporates an array of musical influences including big band swing, New
Orleans jazz, pop and electronica. From the post-punk-soca of album opener "Salt Water," the jangling big band swing-pop of single "Clock Work," to the Talking Heads-channeling "When We're Gone," and the dubbing afro-pop gospel of "Holy" that features
Mike Dillon distorting his marimbas into another sonic dimension. The dub, soul, and big rhythms of "They Gutted This City" and the spell-binding "Drive" keep the tempo high, while Jay's raspy, easy going voice has never sounded better than on the heartfelt "All Tomorrows."
The children of the St. James Music Academy add a youthful exuberance to "Inversion Weather" (one of four tracks they appear on) before a brass-infected "Full Bloom," a live recording of "Edges of the Night," performed with the Asylum Chorus Choir and Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and a soulful "Just Like You" bring down the curtain on a collaborative album that took many hands and many years to create into one powerfully resonating moment.
About
Bedouin Soundclash:
Formed in 2001 and named after Israeli dub artist/producer Badawi's 1996 release, Bedouin's debut album Root Fire (2001) received critical acclaim before sophomore album Sounding a Mosaic (2004) sent the band global, culminating in a series of sold-out shows and festival appearances around the world. The album featured the hit single "When The Night Feels My Song," produced by punk-hardcore royalty Darryl
Jenifer of
Bad Brains and the band won their first JUNO Award in 2006 for Canada's Best New Group, along with numerous accolades around Europe.
Street Gospels (2007) earned a "Pop Album of the Year" nomination and "Video of the Year" nomination for the single "Walls Fall Down" at the 2008 JUNO's as well as three Much Music Video Award nominations for their video for "Until We Burn in the Sun" in 2009.
Bedouin Soundclash released their fourth studio album Light the
Horizon in 2010. Produced by King Britt, the album featured French-Canadian singer-songwriter Coeur de pirate.
Bedouin
Soundclash have toured the world and shared the stage with No Doubt, Ben Harper, Damian Marley, The Roots, The Interrupters, Gogol Bordello, Bad Brains,
Thievery Corporation and many others. The duo continues to add to this prestigious list, opening for
Mighty Mighty Bosstones earlier this year and joining
The Skints on an extensive UK tour. Catch them on
tour in a city near you!
Tour Dates:
Thu, Dec 26 -- Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse
Fri, Dec 27 -- East Greenwich, RI @ Greenwich Odeum
Sat, Dec 28 -- Londonderry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall
Sun, Dec 29 -- Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
