Ariel Pink is about to open up the fuchsia-colored floodgates to his irreverent-yet-revered, mythologized-yet-underexplored recording past. The influential DIY art-pop auteur has announced a new project called Ariel Archives: a series of reissues and retrospective compilations that are meant to shed more light on a period that laid the groundwork for the musician’s success as a pusher of pop-cultural boundaries.
The first three records in the series, Underground, Loverboy, and Odditties Vol. 2, will all be out on October 25 via Mexican Summer. The former two are both reissues — of Pink’s very first LP under the “Haunted Graffiti” banner, and of a fan-favorite album recorded in 2001-2002, respectively. Odditties Vol. 2 consists of never-before-released rarities handpicked from the entirety of the Los Angeles artist’s storehouse.
The string of archival releases is going to continue well into 2020, eventually bringing us new editions of The Doldrums, House Arrest, Scared Famous, and Worn Copy. The cherry on top? The first-ever vinyl release of Stranded at Two Harbors, credited to Holy Shit and co-written with fellow idiosyncratic songsmith Matt Fishbeck.
To give a little taste of what’s to come, Pink has also revealed the video for a new single, “Stray Here With You,” a 10-minute-long announcement clip “Chapter 8: Some Tutorials,” and a remastered version of Loverboy’s “So Glad,” one of his early ballads. Check out all three below, and pre-order the LPs through Pink’s website.