New Album OUT NOW!
New Sights and Sounds: The Secret Machines bring contemporary set design on North American Fall Tour
The Secret Machines' brand-new record, Secret Machines, is out today, October 14, on their own label, TSM Recordings. This is the trio’s third full-length and first on TSM, and also marks the first in a series of strong initiatives that continue to define their status as cutting-edge, visionary artists.
A show at the 9:30 Club in DC this Thursday kicks off the Secret Machines' fall North American promo tour. Following in the tradition of their trademark staging on previous tours, it looks like concert-goers are in for a treat this time around, as well.
The band has just unveiled the minimalist approach behind their new set design, revealing a concept that is more theatrical in nature than in the intense rock lighting effects they are known for. Brandon Curtis took an unconventional approach when he enlisted the conceptual talents of one of Europe’s premiere award-winning set designers, Es Devlin, the same woman who hip-hop mogul Kanye West turned to for his space-themed Touch the Sky tour last year. Ms. Devlin, who also designed the set and costumes for Philip Glass’s chamber opera Orphee as well as Sally Potter’s extravagant film production of Carmen, was kind enough to give us her first-hand perspective on why she decided to collaborate with the Secret Machines, and how she envisions this stage set enhancing their performance.
(photos courtesy of Es Devlin)
In their latest issue, Blender said of Secret Machines, "If David Lynch were to direct a remake of the Victorian romance Wuthering Heights, he wouldn't need to commission a soundtrack: Secret Machines have recorded it...On 'Have I Run Out,' theatrical kettledrums and tense strings introduce a beautiful sense of dreamy anguish and 'The Walls Are Starting to Crack’ showcases he power of their new identity as apocalypse-heralding romantics..."
while SPIN writes, "Adding electronic gurgles to heavy, prog-rock power chords...Secret Machines recalls Rush and Black Sabbath at one end of the sonic spectrum ('The Fire Is Waiting') and David Bowie's spazzier, punk-era edge at the other ('Atomic Heels'). In between those far-flung atmospheric poles, the band proves they're more than the sum of their seamless influences..."
The Secret Machines Full Fall North American Tour
Oct 16 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club &
Oct 17 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero &
Oct 18 New York, NY @ Webster Hall &
Oct 20 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East &
Oct 21 Montreal, QC @ Les Saints &
Oct 22 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace &
Oct 24 Chicago, IL @ Metro*
Oct 25 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre*
Oct 27 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre*
Oct 28 Aspen, CO @ Belly Up*
Oct 30 Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club*
Nov 01 San Diego, CA @ Belly Up*
Nov 03 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent*
Nov 05 Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan*
Nov 06 Seattle, WA @ Neumos*
Nov 07 Vancouver, BC @ Richards on Richards*
Nov 09 Calgary, AB @ SAIT Polytechnic+
Nov 10 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub+
Nov 11 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret+
Nov 14 London, ON @ Call the Office+
Nov 15 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon+
& w/TK Webb
*w/the Dears
+w/Small Sins
http://worlds-fair.net/secret_machines
http://www.thesecretmachines.com
http://www.ilike.com/artist/The+Secret+Machines
http://worlds-fair.net/news/category/artists/the-secret-machines/
The Secret Machines' brand-new record, Secret Machines, is out today, October 14, on their own label, TSM Recordings. This is the trio’s third full-length and first on TSM, and also marks the first in a series of strong initiatives that continue to define their status as cutting-edge, visionary artists.
A show at the 9:30 Club in DC this Thursday kicks off the Secret Machines' fall North American promo tour. Following in the tradition of their trademark staging on previous tours, it looks like concert-goers are in for a treat this time around, as well.
The band has just unveiled the minimalist approach behind their new set design, revealing a concept that is more theatrical in nature than in the intense rock lighting effects they are known for. Brandon Curtis took an unconventional approach when he enlisted the conceptual talents of one of Europe’s premiere award-winning set designers, Es Devlin, the same woman who hip-hop mogul Kanye West turned to for his space-themed Touch the Sky tour last year. Ms. Devlin, who also designed the set and costumes for Philip Glass’s chamber opera Orphee as well as Sally Potter’s extravagant film production of Carmen, was kind enough to give us her first-hand perspective on why she decided to collaborate with the Secret Machines, and how she envisions this stage set enhancing their performance.
“I am a fan of the Secret Machines’ work, having seen their Brighton performance online on the BBC, I was impressed by how committed they are to the visual expression of their music. There was a purity of idea to their lighting, practically the entire show was backlit with them in silhouette. I met Brandon and Josh in NYC while I was working on a film with Sally Potter and also on Kanye West's tour, and we immediately shared a language of image and music and by the end of the conversation the show was effectively designed.
"The visual elements are a direct instinctive response to the qualities of the music. The band will be caught within a Naum Gabo-inspired romboid structure surfaced with gauze and punctuated with radiating tensioned cables which will catch the light in a more lyrical way than a pure saturated block of back light - we might combine them and counterpoint them with pure blocks of backlight too. What the fans see will be a visual expression and counterpoint to what they hear allowing them the space to project their own interpretation of the music and the courage to intensify it.”
(photos courtesy of Es Devlin)
In their latest issue, Blender said of Secret Machines, "If David Lynch were to direct a remake of the Victorian romance Wuthering Heights, he wouldn't need to commission a soundtrack: Secret Machines have recorded it...On 'Have I Run Out,' theatrical kettledrums and tense strings introduce a beautiful sense of dreamy anguish and 'The Walls Are Starting to Crack’ showcases he power of their new identity as apocalypse-heralding romantics..."
while SPIN writes, "Adding electronic gurgles to heavy, prog-rock power chords...Secret Machines recalls Rush and Black Sabbath at one end of the sonic spectrum ('The Fire Is Waiting') and David Bowie's spazzier, punk-era edge at the other ('Atomic Heels'). In between those far-flung atmospheric poles, the band proves they're more than the sum of their seamless influences..."
The Secret Machines Full Fall North American Tour
Oct 17 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero &
Oct 18 New York, NY @ Webster Hall &
Oct 20 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East &
Oct 21 Montreal, QC @ Les Saints &
Oct 22 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace &
Oct 24 Chicago, IL @ Metro*
Oct 25 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre*
Oct 27 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre*
Oct 28 Aspen, CO @ Belly Up*
Oct 30 Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club*
Nov 01 San Diego, CA @ Belly Up*
Nov 03 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent*
Nov 05 Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan*
Nov 06 Seattle, WA @ Neumos*
Nov 07 Vancouver, BC @ Richards on Richards*
Nov 09 Calgary, AB @ SAIT Polytechnic+
Nov 10 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub+
Nov 11 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret+
Nov 14 London, ON @ Call the Office+
Nov 15 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon+
& w/TK Webb
*w/the Dears
+w/Small Sins
http://worlds-fair.net/secret_machines
http://www.thesecretmachines.com
http://www.ilike.com/artist/The+Secret+Machines
http://worlds-fair.net/news/category/artists/the-secret-machines/
