Pre-order - Released 16 May 2025
JOYFUL NOISE RECORDINGS
Date of release: May 16 2025
Like a scene from a dream, Thor Harris stood upon a crowded stage, 13 players deep: tapping, plucking, bowing, blowing lyric-less love songs to a grand auditorium of 325 shining red seats - without a soul sitting in any of them. This was the creation of Heathen Spirituals, the fifth recorded work by Harris' adventurous ambient ensemble Thor & Friends and the first that accurately resembles the skyward repetition of the Austin-based group's live performances. It's a century-old concept: cutting a record in an empty music hall. Masterminded by intrepid producer and lifelong Harris collaborator Craig Ross (Patty Griffin, Spoon), Thor & Friends' roster of musically accomplished misfits spent two days wired up, playing free-flowing meditational pieces on unamplified orchestral instruments inside Jessen Auditorium, a stunning Art Deco relic from the early days of the University of Texas' Butler School of Music - the esteemed institution that Harris dropped out from decades ago. A craftsman, artistically and otherwise, Thor Harris is master plumber, carpenter, and woodworker. In musical contexts, his name is often followed by the five words: "known for his work with," having been a member of avant rock godheads SWANS and high-minded indie favorites Shearwater, while also factoring into important recordings by Bill Callahan, Amanda Palmer, Devendra Banhart, and Shahzad Ismaily. In many circles, Harris is equally well-known for being an openhearted mental health advocate with a devilish sense of humor and a penchant for entertaining social commentary (Harris' "How to Punch a Nazi" instructional video got him famously banned from Twitter in 2017). Heathen Spirituals, arriving May 16th, 2025, on Joyful Noise Recordings, contains three original pieces with a 35-minute runtime. The rhythmic repetition of opening seance "Anne Sexton's Glasses" evokes a cognitive crescendo, while the spellbinding "Christmas Eve at the Wizard's House" evokes a sense of weightlessness, sucking the listener up into the firmament then floating them back down. The crashing, choir-backed "Heathen Spiritual," meanwhile, stirs a gorgeous requiem for a dying planet. In glorious fidelity, the sessions capture the instinctual purity of Thor & Friends' live performances, which thrive on skyward repetition.
Vinyl release of Thor / Friends - Heathen Spirituals (Ghostly Clear Vinyl). Released through Joyful Noise Recordings and available on LP.
(5627318)
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Cat No: JNR494LP-C1
Barcode: 602309900007
Packaging: LP (100g)
| SKU | 5627318 |
| Barcode # | 602309900007 |
| Artist | Thor / Friends |
| Artist/Author | THOR / FRIENDS |
| Shipping weight | 0.6140kg |
| Format | LP (100g) |
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