It’s the recipe for indie’s most anticipated EP since Animal Collective’s Fall Be Kind. Take one of the best reviewed albums of 2009 in Bitte Orca and add Björk, an intriguing back story, and a description to the likes of “Bitte Orca’s younger, hotter sister.” We’re intrigued to say the least.
Good thing we only have to wait one more week. Björk and Dirty Projectors will release their brand new collaborative EP, a seven-track, 28-minute effort titled Mount Wittenberg Orca, a week from today, on June 30th.
The pairing feels natural, with the expansive vocal ranges of Bjork complimenting the intricate harmonies of Dirty Projectors, but sometimes it just takes being in the same place at the same time for two artists to come together on a project. The Projectors’ Dave Longstreth explained how the project came about in a letter now available on Stereogum:
“In April 2009, Brandon Stosuy from Stereogum.com asked me if we wanted to play a benefit concert at a bookstore in New York. I said yes. He asked Björk the same thing, and she said yes. Then he asked us if we wanted to collaborate, and we said yes. Björk asked me what we should do, and I said, “I don’t know, I guess I’d really love to write a bunch of new songs for us to sing together?” And she said Yes.
That same month, Amber from Dirty Projectors was walking along a ridge on Mount Wittenberg, north of San Francisco. She was looking out at the ocean and saw a little family of whales, as you sometimes do in April on the Northern California coast. I wrote some songs about it and sent them to Björk, who agreed to sing the part of the mom whale. The songs became Mount Wittenberg Orca. Amber and Angel and Haley sang the part of the kid whales, and I sang the part of Amber. We sang all week long and learned the music just in time to perform it at the bookstore on May 8th.
Then our album Bitte Orca came out and we went on tour forever. We finally got a chance to record Wittenberg last month, almost exactly a year after we first sang it. We went into the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn and rehearsed it for three days, then we recorded it as quickly and as live as possible. We only overdubbed lead vocals and a guitar solo.”
The EP will be available as a digital download for $7 and all profits will go to the National Geographic Society, an organization that protects international marine areas. Pre-orders are now ongoing.
As mentioned by Longstreth, the Projectors and Björk first performed together in May of 2009 in New York. Below, you can relive that performance as well as check out a teaser trailer for the forthcoming EP.
Mount Wittenberg Orca Tracklist:
01. Ocean
02. On and Ever Onward
03. When the World Comes to an End
04. Beautiful Mother
05. Sharing Orb
06. No Embrace
07. All We Are
