Preorder the new album on iTunes
Listen to “Stay” on Spotify
“Cross-legged acoustic jams and staggering electric anthems … even at their most ornate, Plants and Animals have always been a power trip at core. They play with such vigor that they might as well be fronting an unheard orchestra.” – FILTER
“vibrant, constantly rewarding” – SPIN
Eight years after their debut album Parc Avenue (2008), Montreal based and Polaris-Prize nominated artist Plants and Animals’ newest evolution, Waltzed in from the Rumbling, is set for release April 29 on Secret City Records. Similarly recorded to tape, the new album embodies the raw musicianship characteristic of the group, while injecting symphonic crescendos, lyrical balladry, and metamorphic song developments. This is Plants and Animals’ most soulful and inventive collection of music yet. Eleven soundtracks fit to accompany leaps taken, ships sailed, dark water and pink skies.
Since their most recent LP, The End of That (2012), the members of Plants and Animals have begun families and taken the time to slow down. Intentionally removing time constraints from their process, the group sought to reconnect with the honesty and autonomy of music created without pressure. “It was more like an art studio than a recording studio,” says lead vocalist Warren Spicer. “A mess, pieces of songs all over the place. We had this big canvas and were constantly filling in corners here, erasing there, repainting that part, standing back and looking at the whole picture to see what we had.” The time taken to write the album is reflected in climactic progressions within each song. Rather than a single frame, they give you the length of the horizon. Rather than a glimpse—they give you a vision.
The influences of the new LP are far and wide: the broken soul of Van Morrison; the off-kilter geometry of J Dilla; the dark, French funk of Serge Gainsbourg; the fire of John Coltrane’s quartet; Messiaen’s synaesthesia; the quirk of Angelo Badalamenti. The result is pure Plants and Animals, wide open with room to move.
The first single “Stay” exemplifies the large orchestral scope that Plants and Animals have unleashed, while channeling the gritty folk roots that bore Parc Avenue. The track opens with an acoustic folk vocal, reminiscent of past albums. Then, unexpectedly, the song takes an electric turn, exploding in sound, tempo, instrumentation, and depth, asking you to “look inside your heart”. “Stay” is an instant rock classic: epic and unforgettable.
Waltzed in from the Rumbling is available for pre-order in our store now!
