Joshua Tree has been an inspiration to many musicians: The Eagles eponymous album cover was shot there, Gram Parsons was (almost) buried there, some band from Ireland called U2 even named an album after the place. Upstaging all those dudes, Julie Carpenter’s new Less Bells project will release its debut Solifuge consists of eight instrumental jams actually inspired by the physical locale.
Arriving September 14 via Kranky, Solifuge features all the haunting and sweeping undulations you might expect when you think of Joshua Tree. Created in collaboration with Dain Luscombe the duo draw on an arsenal of cello, Optigan, voice and synth to muster compositions “building from austerity to wild overgrowth.”
The band is also true to its name and appear to play no bells at all on Solifuge.
Known for her violin contributions to works by Brian Jonestown Massacre, Eels and The Autumns, Less Bells sees Carpenter transposing her string compositions to synth and deconstructing classical pieces into free flowing soundscapes. Basically everything you love from the Kranky catalogue, inspired by the Joshua Tree.
Pre-order the album here, and scope the cover art and tracklist below.
Solifuge tracklisting:
01. Bird in Hand
02. Forest Ghosts
03. Desert
04. Valentine
05. Bombardment
06. Golden Storm
07. Milwaukee Protocol
08. The Gills
More about: Less Bells
