Following the release of their deeply affecting single “Until Next Time,” Beacon are announcing their upcoming fourth album, Along the Lethe, with an eclectic pair of new songs. The first of two special collaborations comes from the legendary Colin Stetson who lent his genius on “Ostrich” a new single out today.
“Ostrich” is an enchanting piano piece that invites multi-instrumentalist Colin Stetson to weave a tapestry of horns and woodwinds into its gentle chords and swells of noise. The centerpiece from Along the Lethe was inspired by a tuning technique used by Lou Reed and John Cale in The Velvet Underground. Their Ostrich tuning requires all strings on an instrument to be tuned to the same note, and with this foundation, Jacob and Thomas improvised on the various synths and instruments in their studio to give the song its hypnotic atmosphere. “Colin delivered his performance a day before Christmas Eve in 2021,” Thomas explains, “and with it being the first demo written for the record in late 2019, ‘Ostrich’ is both the oldest song on the record and the last to be finished.” Stetson tells us “ “What a joy to spin and whirl and call out into the ether with these lovely Beacon folks. Many thanks for having me on.”
Meanwhile “Can’t Turn Back” is an effervescent amalgamation of genres, timbres, and moods. Jacob Gossett‘s love for UK garage rhythms melts into twinkling synth arpeggios and atmospheric pads while Thomas Mullarney III sings with conviction and tenderness of losing himself in “the constant dark.” As part of a record written largely during quarantine, a specter of hopelessness and unending struggle looms large, but the more empowering music seems to keep the doom at bay as it tilts toward the sky.
Along the Lethe arrives on September 9th, 2022 on the band’s imprint, Apparent Movement.
Known for their simply intoxicating live show, Beacon are also announcing their North American fall tour, the duo recently announced their European run. All dates are listed below.
Beacon 2022 World Tour Dates
- Sep 10th – Brooklyn, NY @ Public Records
- Sep 13th – Boston, MA @ Middle East
- Sep 14th – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
- Sep 25 – Chicago IL @ Schubas
- Oct 6 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
- Oct 15 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
- Oct 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
- Nov 15 – Haarlem, Netherlands @ Patronaat
- Nov 17 – Budapest, Hungary @ Turbina
- Nov 18 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug &w Pint
- Nov 19 – Manchester, UK @ YES
- Nov 20 – London, UK, @ Nells
More About Beacon
Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett met the first day of classes at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where the pair were studying sculpture and painting respectively. Since then, the duo have established a singular musical and aesthetic vision under the name Beacon, with releases on electronic tastemaker labels that include Ghostly, Kompakt and Anjunadeep.
In early 2020, after finishing the last date of the their third album tour in Bucharest, Romania, Mullarney III and Gossett returned home to the new reality of the pandemic and began writing their fourth record. That year also saw a new commissioned work for fashion brand Balenciaga, as well as an unreleased original song used by Apple to launch the new MacBook Pro (“Show Me How”).
During the pandemic years, the band released an eclectic suite of digital singles: “Feel Something“ a blistering, bass-driven anthem and “Gambler,” a nocturnal, Vaudeville piano theme, and collaborations: “Time” and “Pause” with Techno titan Kölsch and “Go Back Now“ alongside Anjunadeep up-and-comer Jerro.
In June 2022, the band released poignant new single “Until Next Time“ along with the announcement of their first tour dates since the pandemic. The single arrives ahead of much more music and news to come in 2022.
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Press Release provided by Grandstand Media.
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