Collaborates With Panda Bear and Laetitia Sadier
Deerhunter’s lynchpin Bradford Cox returns to his solo guise, Atlas Sound, for another round of ethereal pop genius with his second solo album, Logos, which will be released on 4AD on October 19, 2009. Whilst its predecessor (Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, 2007) was a record of fragile beauty and acute experimentalism in comparison to the often volatile bluster of Deerhunter, Logos has a far more rooted pop sensibility.
After an unmastered draft of Logos was accidently leaked by Cox via his infamous blog, with its caverns of covers, demos and mixtapes the 27-year-old makes freely available to his legions of fans, the finished article is the sound of Atlas Sound changing up; away from such piercing introspection but retaining the ambient bedroom recording charms that initially made the this pop prince’s solo project so bewitching.
At its heart is ‘Walkabout’, a collaboration between Cox and Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) put together whilst he was on tour with Animal Collective in Europe. Combining their love for tape loops and doo-wop, the track lifts the hook from The Dovers’ classic 1966 garage track ‘What Am I Going To Do?’ to form a glorious summertime jam. On its appearance online, The FADER commented "If Logos is in any way as good as this song, we will not need much else in the fall." Also appearing on the album is Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier who lends her vocals to the kaleidoscopic motorik number, ‘Quick Canal’.
The tracklisting is as follows:
New track 'Walkabout' (featuring Noah Lennox of Panda Bear / Animal Collective) available to download now from 4AD.com or here (http://static.4ad.com/audio/atlassound/walkabout.mp3).
After an unmastered draft of Logos was accidently leaked by Cox via his infamous blog, with its caverns of covers, demos and mixtapes the 27-year-old makes freely available to his legions of fans, the finished article is the sound of Atlas Sound changing up; away from such piercing introspection but retaining the ambient bedroom recording charms that initially made the this pop prince’s solo project so bewitching.
At its heart is ‘Walkabout’, a collaboration between Cox and Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) put together whilst he was on tour with Animal Collective in Europe. Combining their love for tape loops and doo-wop, the track lifts the hook from The Dovers’ classic 1966 garage track ‘What Am I Going To Do?’ to form a glorious summertime jam. On its appearance online, The FADER commented "If Logos is in any way as good as this song, we will not need much else in the fall." Also appearing on the album is Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier who lends her vocals to the kaleidoscopic motorik number, ‘Quick Canal’.
The tracklisting is as follows:
- 'The Light That Failed'
- 'An Orchid'
- 'Walkabout' ft. Noah Lennox (Panda Bear)
- 'Criminals'
- 'Attic Lights'
- 'Sheila'
- 'Quick Canal' ft. Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab)
- 'My Halo'
- 'Kid Climax'
- 'Washington School'
- 'Logos'
"My last album was a bedroom laptop type thing. Very introverted. Logos is an album that was recorded all over the world. It's not about me. There are collaborations with other musicians. The lyrics are not autobiographical. The view is a lot more panoramic and less close-up. I became bored with introspection. This was also the case with Deerhunter's Microcastle LP, which was written during the same period.
I started recording December of 2007. I recorded the first version of the album, which was not intended for release. Due to some unfortunate mistakes on my part, this 'sketch' of the album was leaked. Many of the songs where simply 'placeholders,' songs I created quickly to help design the 'arc' of the album.
I did not react well to the leak, in retrospect. It became the kind of internet-fueled drama that I was quickly learning to despise. I had always desired to speak through music, not blog posts and interviews, etc. I considered abandoning the project.
I toured for a period in Europe with Animal Collective, whose band dynamic was very inspirational to be around. On the bus, we often played improvised iPod games. We would take turns formulating a theme or unifying concept and then play three songs. The goal would be for everyone to try and figure out the theme. During one of these games, someone played 'What Am I Going to Do' by the Dovers. I was amazed at the hook - a weird organ thing with drums and electric bass. I mentioned to Noah [Lennox] that someone should really sample that riff. He agreed and he taught me a little about sampling and matching up beats. This ended up as the collaborative effort 'Walkabout'.
Each song on the album has a similar story. That might be my favorite thing about the album. It's a collection of songs. There is no 'filler.' There are little scrapbook details everywhere. Sasha Vine [of Sian Alice Group] provided a double-tracked improvised violin part to 'Attic Lights' which was recorded backstage at a Deerhunter/Sian Alice Group show in Brighton. It might be my favorite moment of the album. I played it for some younger friends of mine. They cringed. They wanted more songs like 'Walkabout'. Something with a big beat. I told them when they get older they will appreciate things like harmonicas and violins more.
Laetitia from Stereolab, who I idolized as a teenager and would later befriend on tour, contributed words and vocals to 'Quick Canal.' The song was originally about 15 minutes long. I had zero ideas for vocals and asked if she could give it a shot. Andy Ramsay [drummer for Stereolab ] took a dub of the original and recorded Laetitia's vocals at his Press Play studio in London. It was quite a treat to hear the finished product, now at an economical nine minutes.
Almost everything you hear on the album is a first take. This makes it almost like a 'live album' where a band sets up in a studio and just rolls tape. There are songs on here I don't even remember recording."
