Jet Plane and Oxbow

Description

*LOSER EDITION LP SOLD OUT! Black vinyl shipping now.

This is definitely Shearwaters biggest and loudest recordits easy to imagine these songs roaring from the stagebut its also their most detailed and intricate one. Frontman Jonathan Meiburg and producer/engineer Reisch (who also recorded 2012s Animal Joy and the off-the-cuff collaborations of 2014s Fellow Travelers) spent two years crafting Jet Plane and Oxbow with help from drummer Cully Symington, longtime Shearwater associates Howard Draper and Lucas Oswald, and tour mates Jesca Hoop, Abram Shook, and Jenn Wasner.

But their secret weapon this time is film composer and percussionist Brian Reitzell, whose soundtracks include The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, The Bling Ring, and 30 Days of Night. Reitzells arsenal of strange instruments emphasizes Jet Plane and Oxbows cinematic depth and scope, and reflects the bands choice to anchor the record in the era when digital technology was just beginning to transform the world of recorded music. In Shearwaters hands this doesnt feel like nostalgia; the racing synths and hammered dulcimers of heart-pounding opener Prime or the addled motorik of Radio Silence sound more like a metaphor for our own bewildering moment. (For a full bio, along with a conversation between famed music journalist Michael Azerrad & Shearwater frontman Meiburg, read here).