The King Canutes, photo by Lisa Whiteman
Brooklyn-London-based indie duo The King Canutes present their debut album ‘Eastern Seaboard, Perfect Summer’, via the Montclair, New Jersey-based Magic Door Record Label.
Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by renowned producer Ray Ketchem (Guided by Voices, Luna, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) at Magic Door Recording Studio, The duo’s playful duality sits with hard-earned life lessons. Evocative tales of triumph and tragedy are leavened with everyday fatalism across each of its nine tracks. The album focus – track ‘The Mixture as Before’ is a case in point.
Some fifteen years in the gestation and three years in the making, ‘Eastern Seaboard, Perfect Summer’ is an illustration of the tenacity of Keir Woods (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars) and Richard Alwyn Fisher (vocals, backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars), capturing and expanding on their unique visions of this songwriting duo.
The King Canutes make intelligent, skewed pop with echoes of early 80s-90s Australian and Scottish pop, British folk and Midwestern indie rock, all melted in the current cosmopolitan cauldrons of New York and London. Having met in the early 2000s amidst NYC’s cosmopolitan pop / indie rock scene, they debuted with their ‘Last Callers and Losers’ EP in 2008. With the dynamic tension of dual singer-songwriters, their music sits somewhere between The Go-Betweens and the long-distance, long-haul commitment of The Postal Service.
Their ambitious new album involves world-class artists – a veritable who’s who of the NYC indie scene. Lending their talents to this outstanding collection are Mac Gollehon (David Bowie, Al Jarreau, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger), Kevin March (Guided by Voices), Dave Derby (Dambuilders, Gramercy Arms, Lloyd Cole), Kendall Jane Meade (Sparklehorse, Mascott), Mike Dillon (Rickie Lee Jones), vocalist Jessie Kilguss, David Nagler (Nova Social, Joan Baez, Aaron Neville), John Leon (Roky Erickson), Doug McEachern (Suran Song in Stag), Renée LoBue (Elk City) and Verena Wiesendanger (Semi Gloss).
Keir Woods: “I’m so proud of the album and that we managed to keep the flame alive for all these years. Every addition, expansion and revision added something. The final cut represents the best we can possibly be, and that’s deeply satisfying!”
Richard Alwyn Fisher adds: “From the opening horn blast of ‘Seymour Stein (for Earle Holmes)’ to the achingly beautiful ride out of ‘Come Undone’, this album really shows The King Canutes at our finest. There are many styles here, all held together by the vision Keir and I have been forging for a long while.”
The duo recently released ‘Cars and Girls’, honoring Prefab Sprout, which they used to perform this song for NYC’s legendary annual showcase ‘The Love Hangover’, following the lead track ‘Seymour Stein (for Earle Holmes)’, capturing the elation of freedom and the frustration of starting the artistic journey again, named for the club owner who gave Keir his first Paris bookings after moving from NYC.
As of November 21, the album is out everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. On November 23, The King Canutes holds their album release show at New York City’s Berlin – Under A, joined by Elk City and The Dambuilders, reuniting to perform their 1989 debut album ‘A Young Person’s Guide’.
Bandcamp: https://thekingcanutes.bandcamp.com/album/eastern-seaboard-perfect-summer
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/18ushc33I7RFdgx6MJlaln
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-king-canutes/295362605
Album credits:
Written by Keir Woods and Richard Alwyn Fisher, except:
‘Cars and Girls’ written by Paddy McAloon; Produced, recorded, mixed & mastered by Ray Ketchem at Magic Door in Montclair, NJ; Keir Woods / vocals, electric and acoustic guitars; Richard Alwyn Fisher / vocals, backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars; Dave Derby / bass, backing vocals; Doug McEachern / drums; Kevin March / drums; Ray Ketchem / drums, percussion, keyboards, programming; John Leon / pedal steel guitar; Mac Gollehon / horns; David Nagler / piano; Mike Dillon / vibraphone; Kendall Jane Meade / duet and backing vocals; Verena Wiesendanger / duet and backing vocals) Jessie Kilguss / backing vocals; Renée LoBue / backing vocals; Joe Colwell / backing vocals;
Single artwork by Peregrine Honig; Album artwork by Ray Ketchem); Artist photos by Lisa Whiteman
Released by Magic Door Record Label:
https://magicdoor.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/magicdoorrecordlabel
https://www.instagram.com/magicdoorrecordlabel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQq_sj_79L1IsdIVp6GvDw
https://www.magicdoorrecording.com/
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR:
https://www.facebook.com/ShamelessPromotionPR/
https://littlecloudrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.shamelesspromotionpr.com/
Track list:
01. Seymour Stein [for Earle Holmes]
02. The Mixture as Before
03. Cars and Girls
04. Perfect Summer
05. Eastern Seaboard
06. Red Hook Sunset
07. Room 21
08. The Man from Hawaii
09. Come Undone
Keep up with The King Canutes:
https://thekingcanutes.bandcamp.com/album/eastern-seaboard-perfect-summer
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578712113097
https://www.instagram.com/woodskeir
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk7oqrrb1x2E6IbaKuOu81w
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-king-canutes/295362605
#TheKingCanutes #NY #London #NewAlbum #MagicDoorRecordLabel #LisaWhitermanPhotography #RayKetchemArtwork #ShamelessPromotion #VideosoundArtMagazine