Bill Callahan has announced new album YTI⅃AƎЯ, which will be out October 14 via Drag City. "I wanted to make a record that addressed or reflected the current climate," Callahan says. "It felt like it was necessary to rouse people — rouse their love, their kindness, their anger, rouse anything in them. Get their senses working again. I guess there was already plenty of anger! But we needed a better anger. To get out of this hypnagogic state. Hypnagogic rage. Disassociated rage that destroys the community and leaves only the individual eating themselves alive instead of feeding others. We were born to feed others. We have milk, breasts. We have language, tongues. We have music, ears. All to feed."
"At the time it felt like we were coming out of something, getting clear of it," Callahan continues. "So I was picturing songs that would make sense to take before an audience at this crucial juncture -- venturing out -- where things could go either way. A reintroduction to the basics of life. Of human interaction. Face to face. A new clear vision. A new way. Which is probably just an old way we'd abandoned somewhere back there as we retreated into our screened, blindered existence."
YTI⅃AƎЯ features Matt Kinsey on guitars, Emmett Kelly on bass and backing vocals, Sarah Ann Phillips on B3, piano and backing vocals, and Jim White on drums. Bill notes that YTI⅃AƎЯ features lots of horns, "because horns are heralds, triumphs, second line funerals and just breath forced through a metal maze or amusement park slide," as well as "six or seven" other voices as "There is too much of just mine right now."
"Listening to this record takes one hour," Bill concludes. "An hour sounds like a year to me these days. Taking an hour of someone's life. I fault the internet. I fault ourselves for falling for the internet. An hour is actually lovely, nothing, a lifetime. You have to live that lifetime though in order to appreciate the hour. I'm not suggesting people must listen to this record all the way through in one sitting. It IS sequenced for that particular purpose, though, in case anyone wants to."
Bill hasn't shared a song from YTI⅃AƎЯ yet, but you can check out the artwork and tracklist, as well as his full notes on the album, below.
You can catch Bill on tour this November, including UK dates early in the month followed by West Coast US shows. All are listed below.
bill callahan reality
YTI⅃AƎЯ: First Bird Everyway Bowevil Partition Lily Naked Souls Coyotes Drainface Natural Information The Horse Planets Last One At The Party
BILL CALLAHAN ON 'YTI⅃AƎЯ':
"I wanted to make a record that addressed or reflected the current climate. It felt like it was necessary to rouse people — rouse their love, their kindness, their anger, rouse anything in them. Get their senses working again. I guess there was already plenty of anger! But we needed a better anger. To get out of this hypnagogic state. Hypnagogic rage. Disassociated rage that destroys the community and leaves only the individual eating themselves alive instead of feeding others. We were born to feed others. We have milk, breasts. We have language, tongues. We have music, ears. All to feed.
At the time it felt like we were coming out of something, getting clear of it. So I was picturing songs that would make sense to take before an audience at this crucial juncture -- venturing out -- where things could go either way. A reintroduction to the basics of life. Of human interaction. Face to face. A new clear vision. A new way. Which is probably just an old way we'd abandoned somewhere back there as we retreated into our screened, blindered existence.
Sometimes you forget the most basic things. The biggest things! And it just takes a little nudge to get your head back on track. I wanted sounds and words that made you feel and that lifted you up. But first there was a need to bond, to clear the air. Or to just acknowledge the air. So there is some of that on the record. I went for horns because horns are heralds, triumphs, second line funerals and just breath forced through a metal maze or amusement park slide. And I wanted voices, I wanted multiple voices, not just mine. There is too much of just mine right now. So there are 6 or 7 people singing on this record.
Listening to this record takes one hour. Ah hour sounds like a year to me these days. Taking an hour of someone's life. I fault the internet. I fault ourselves for falling for the internet. An hour is actually lovely, nothing, a lifetime. You have to live that lifetime though in order to appreciate the hour. I'm not suggesting people must listen to this record all the way through in one sitting. It IS sequenced for that particular purpose, though, in case anyone wants to."
BILL CALLAHAN - 2022 TOUR DATES: 11/1/22 SWX Bristol UK 11/2/22 Roundhouse London UK 11/3/22 Brudenell Social Club Leeds UK 11/5/22 Queen Margaret Union (QMU) Glasgow Scotland UK 11/6/22 Albert Hall Manchester United Kingdom 11/19/22 Sebastiani Theatre Sonoma CA 11/20/22 Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco CA 11/21/22 Rio Theater Santa Cruz CA 11/22/22 Ojai Deer Lodge Ojai CA 11/24/22 The Poetry Church/Guild Hall San Luis Obispo CA * 11/25/22 Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown CA 11/26/22 The Theater at Ace Hotel Los Angeles CA
