Dude, Forest Swords are my PALS right now! I’m not going to lie, readers; I was hard-up for music news to share with you today. In fact, I was ready to give up altogether and just go work some more on my super-awesome comic book at the Chipotle down the street like I do sometimes. But then… I open up my email one last time, and BAM: freakin’ Forest Swords (a.k.a. Matthew Barnes) to the rescue!
Barnes wrote to me to say that he had a new video for “The Weight of Gold,” the second single from last year’s much-enjoyed folky, dubby debut album Engravings. He went on to say that it was filmed in “a number of desolate locations,” and that it featured a dancer “whose abrupt movements are in perfect synchronization with the combination of haunting synths, ghostly vocal samples, spindly guitars and heavy percussion that when combined create the elusive producer’s unique signature sound.” I thought all those extra adjectives he used to describe himself were a little weird, to be honest with you; but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Regular ones, sure; but you’re just not supposed to do that with gift horses!
He also mentioned some other stuff I could use to pad out my story too! Including that he worked with filmmaker Benjamin Millepied on this one (who choreographed Black Swan and recently became the new director at the Paris Opera) and noted that “the locations Benjamin picked for this video really resonate with the track.” He also said that he has “always associated the songs on Engravings with the British landscape — woodland and sandstone, because that’s the environment I live in and produced the record in — but taking the music out of that context and placing it in Israel definitely shifts the track in a direction I didn’t expect.”
Oh yeah! Also, I guess you can also download the mp3 for “The Weight of Gold” for free right over here. And you can catch the man on tour all over the world (including a few newly added US places with How to Dress Well this spring) throughout 2014. Thanks again for makin’ it so easy for me, Forest Swords!
So yeah, check out all this stuff below. Meanwhile… I’ve got a Chipotle date with a burrito and some zany comic book Jujitsu-master wood ducks with attitude!
Forest Swords: The Weight of Gold on Nowness.com
Tour dates:
02.20.14 - Malmo, Sweden - Babel
02.21.14 - Aarhus, Denmark - Radar
02.22.14 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Jazzhouse
02.28.14 - Barcelona, Spain - CaixaForum
03.01.14 - Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
03.03.14 - Hamburg, Germany - Kampagnel
03.04.14 - Leipzig, Germany - Ut Connewitz
03.05.14 - Berlin, Germany - Berghain
03.06.14 - Cologne, Germany - Baustelle Kalk
03.07.14 - Prague, Czech Republic - Meet Factory
03.13-15.14 - Austin, TX - SXSW
03.17.14 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent *
03.18.14 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy *
03.21.14 - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade *
03.22.14 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall *
03.24.14 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
03.26.14 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge *
03.27.14 - Cambridge, MA - TT The Bear’s *
03.28.14 - Montreal, QC - S.A.T. *
03.29.14 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club *
03.30.14 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *
04.03.14 - Amsterdam, NL - OT301
04.04.14 - London, UK - LSO
04.05.14 - Paris, France - Le Point Ephemere
04.06.14 - Brussels, Belgium - AB (Matinee)
04.06.14 - Brussels, Belgium - AB (Evening)
04.10.14 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
04.11.14 - Brighton, UK - The Green Door Store
04.12.14 - Leeds, UK - Belgrave Music Hall
04.16.14 - Rome, Italy - Circolo Degli Aristi
04.17.14 - Capri, Italy - Mattatoio Club
04.18.14 - Padova, Italy - Movement
04.23.14 - Tallinn, Estonia - Kino Soprus
04.24.14 - Athens, Greece - Plisskenlab
04.30.14 - Krems, Austria - Donau Festival
05.04.14 - Glasgow, UK - Stag & Dagger Festival
05.06.14 - Lisbon, Portugal - Musicbox
05.24.14 - Zagreb, Croatia - Zedno Uho Festival
07.06.14 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07.12.14 - Keflavík, Iceland - ATP Festival
08.09.14 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
09.10.14 - Rovinj, Croatia - Unknown Festival
* How to Dress Well
• Forest Swords: http://forestswords.tumblr.com
• Tri Angle: http://tri-anglerecords.com
More about: Forest Swords, How to Dress Well
