Misery knows no borders, no bounds. An overbearing sense of malaise and its malcontents are the new norm. It’s as if the basic machinations of nation-states are crumbling before our very eyes. Our Faith, privately, collectively, torn apart. Could there ever be a more perfect juncture for a new Xiu Xiu album?
Girl with Basket of Fruit, an invocation of the Caravaggio painting featuring instead a boy, is out February 8 on Polyvinyl, following Jamie Stewart’s debut solo album and a number of experimental Bandcamp missives in 2018. The Xiu Xiu lineup this time around features “Butch Jenny” Stewart (of course) alongside Thor Harris, Devin Hoff, and Angela Seo, with further contributions from a great many more. A quick parse of the densely descriptive press offers a few clues as to the music within:
“It could be collaborations with master Haitian drummers[…] It could be a collaboration with master Yoruba drummers[…] It could be improvised vocals by Elliot Reed & orchestrated vocals by Eugene Robinson…”
And so on. I have it on good authority that Girl with Basket of Fruit is something of a volte-face from the twisted songcraft of the excellent FORGET towards…well, just the TWISTED. Be assured, Xiu Xiu aren’t idly #resisting – if they’re going down, they’re going down on their own shrieking, caterwauling terms. And we lucky people get to hear the results! Catch the music video for new track “Scisssssssors” video down below, head over to Polyvinyl to pre-order, and get ready to indulge in the mire come February.
Girl with Basket of Fruit tracklisting:
01. Girl with Basket of Fruit
02. It Comes Out as a Joke
03. Amargi ve Moo
04. Ice Cream Truck
05. Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy
06. The Wrong Thing
07. Mary Turner Mary Turner
08. Scisssssssors
09. Normal Love
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