STREAM: “My Only” –
Billboard / SoundCloud
Today the Pains of Being Pure at Heart shares “My Only,” the third single from its recently announced fourth album, The Echo of Pleasure, over at Billboard. The album, due Sept. 1 (digital) and Sept. 15 on CD, vinyl & cassette, on the band’s own Painbow label – is available for pre-order here in all formats. The band also has a NYC show and west coast dates in September (see full list of dates below).
Bio:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have long set the benchmark for big-hearted, idealistic pop songs. With The Echo of Pleasure, The Pains push beyond their many inspirations and embrace their role as indiepop heroes in their own right. Showcasing the deft songwriting of frontman Kip Berman, The Pains’ fourth album is their most confident and accomplished. After three critically-acclaimed records, 2009’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, 2011’s Belong and 2014’s Days of Abandon received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Guardian and Rolling Stone, they have put together a collection of songs that possess a timeless grandeur, deeper and more satisfying than anything the band has done since their iconic debut.
Berman enlisted Days of Abandon producer Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine, The Killers) to help him record a Pains record like none-other. “The logistics of it were so different. When I recorded the record, my wife was six months pregnant. We only had a limited amount of time. There was an absolute uncertainty hanging over our heads, but it was also a kind of escape from worry for that time,” he explains. “What’s going to happen when I have a kid? Am I going to be able to go on tour? Is this the last record I’m going to get to make? It’s not a bad thing to be worried when you’re expecting this huge transition of life. If you didn’t feel scared, you’re probably not feeling the right emotion. I tried to make the best record I could, knowing it might be the last time.”
The Echo of Pleasure navigates variability and safety without unraveling. Berman is no stranger to fragility; here, it’s structured with warmth, the kind found after life-altering moments. It’s reflected in the album title, too: “The Echo of Pleasure could be the near-symmetry of love,” he explains. “It’s the reflection back and forth, modulating over time, of two people who are together. It’s not a mirror – but a perpetual answering and asking. When one person is absent, that echo ceases or, as the title track laments, ‘fades into these silent days.’ In that sense, remembering is a kind of echo, each instance slightly less vivid than the one before.”
The record is augmented by guest vocals featuring previous Pains collaborators: Jen Goma on “So True” (A Sunny Day in Glasgow), bass guitar by Jacob Danish Sloan (Dream Diary), and horns by Kelly Pratt (Beirut, David Byrne, St. Vincent). The Pains of Being Pure at Heart live band consists of long-time guitarist Christoph Hochheim (Ablebody, ex-Depreciation Guild), bassist Jacob Danish Sloan, drummer Chris Schackerman (ex-Mercury Girls, ex-Literature) and vocalist/keyboardist Jess Rojas. The Echo of Pleasure arrives Sept. 1
TOUR DATES:
Saturday, September 9 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Hangar / OctFest *
Friday, September 22 — Vancouver, BC — Biltmore Cabaret $&
Saturday, September 23 — Seattle, WA — Tractor Tavern $&
Sunday, September 24 — Portland, OR — Doug Fir Lounge $&
Tuesday, September 26 — San Francisco, CA — The Chapel $&
Wednesday, September 27 — Los Angeles, CA — Teragram Ballroom $&
Thursday, September 28 — San Diego, CA – The Loft UC $&
Wednesday, October 11 — Zaragoza, Spain — Fiestas Del Pilar
Friday, October 13 — La Coruna, Spain — Playa Club
Saturday, October 14 — O Grove, Spain — Fiesta Del Marisco
Sunday, October 15 — Madrid, Spain — Joy Slava
Monday, October 16 — Cordoba, Spain — Sala Hanger
Tuesday, October 17 — Sevilla, Spain — Sala X
Wednesday, Octover 18 — Granada, Spain — Lemon Rock
Thursday, October 19 — Valencia, Spain — La Rambleta
Friday, October 20 — Barcelona, Spain — Bikini
Saturday, October 21 — Santander, Spain — Escenario
* = w/ Charles Bradley, Kilo Kish
$ = w/ The Courtneys
& = w/ The Prids
Pictured below: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart by Ebru Yildiz
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Echo of Pleasure
(Painbow)
Street Date: Sept. 1, 2017
Pre-order here
Track List:
1. My Only
2. Anymore
3. The Garret
4. When I Dance With You
5. The Echo of Pleasure
6. Falling Apart So Slow
7. So True
8. The Cure for Death
9. Stay
TPOBPAH LINKS:
Official Site
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram