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The return of The Hold Steady: new album - May 4th, 2010

Posted at 1:52 PM on February 23, 2010 by Jim McGuinn (1 Comments)

From the offices of Vagrant Records comes this news...

The Hold Steady's 'Heaven Is Whenever' Set For Release May 4

The Hold Steady, lauded for the scope, depth, truth and heart they bring to chronicling the American rock myth, recently put the finishing touches on 'Heaven Is Whenever,' their new album set for release May 4 on Vagrant Records. The album was produced by Dean Baltulonis, who engineered the band's 'Almost Killed Me' and produced 'Separation Sunday,' and was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios in Upstate NY and Wild Arctic Studios in Queens, NY, with mixing also happening at Wild Arctic.

Singer Craig Finn says 'Heaven Is Whenever' is about "embracing suffering and understanding its place in a joyful life. The lyrics speak a lot about struggle and reward." Piano and keys take a backseat to guitar on the new record, which also gets production help from guitarist Tad Kubler. "I really believe the album exposes new elements of the band that we hinted at on other records but weren't able to fully realize until this one," says Kubler. "Rather than just concentrate on changes in the instrumentation, we made changes to the song writing process."

Recorded in several smaller sessions spread out over a long period of time, the songs on 'Heaven Is Whenever' received the benefit of being tested on the band's recent tours. There was also a makeshift recording booth set up on the back of their tour bus so songs and musical ideas could be documented as they developed. As Finn says this allowed them to "see what was working and what wasn't. I believe this record benefits from us working at a more deliberate pace."

The band also listed a gaggle of tour dates, but somehow forgot to include Minnesota on their April gig list...

Comments (1)

May 4 will also bring us...

Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record
The New Pornographers, Together
Minus the Bear, Omni
Josh Ritter, So Runs the World Away
The Fall, Your Future Our Clutter

Big day.

Posted by Mac Wilson | February 23, 2010 3:21 PM

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