However cool it was that Blonde Redhead decided to compose a score for a Dungeons & Dragons documentary, it wasn’t cool enough to offset the lack of news about a forthcoming new album. Luckily for the world, 2010 has flown by and six months later, we have details!
Pitchfork reports the band’s followup to 2007’s 23 will be out September 14th on 4AD. The title — Penny Sparkle — and album artwork (at right) will intimidate any self-respecting heterosexual male out of listening to the music, but hopefully the music will speak for itself. In case it doesn’t, here’s frontwoman Kazu Makino on the subject:
I fell in love with the music like falling for someone you’ve known for a long time. It was dreamy and sometimes was very stormy. At times I felt like a shepherd who was trying to herd five stallions into a yard (unsuccessfully). I felt like I was a link to everyone. I remained still and the others were constantly moving around it. I am not sure what Penny Sparkle is but I hope I offered to them as much as they offered me. I know that we have never made a record this way and if I could go back in time, I would do it exactly the same way again.
The way they did it was by holding recording sessions in the band’s hometown of New York City as well as Stockholm, with the production team of Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid, who have worked with Fever Ray and remixed all your favorite hip musicians. Also, famed British alt-rock producer Alan Moulder, who mixed 23, is back this time around to work his magic on Penny Sparkle.
Last week, Blonde Redhead put out the album opener “Here Sometimes”, and it’s still the brooding art rock we have come to know and love, so at very least there is a winning formula at work here. Also, the beginnings of a tour have appeared, with more dates promised. See the current schedule below.
Blonde Redhead 2010 Tour Dates:
07/16 – Ottawa, Ontario @ Ottawa Bluesfest
07/24 – Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
09/15 – Geneva, Switzerland @ La Batie
09/16 – Paris, France @ Bataclan
09/18 – Brussels, Belgium @ AB
09/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
09/21 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
09/22 – Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller
09/23 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
09/24 – Helsinki, Finland @ Virgin Oil Co.
09/29 – London, England @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire
