美國獨立音樂長青樹續寫不朽傳奇
與Tortoise鼓手John McEntire再度合作
Yo La Tengo用音樂對抗這個黑暗時代！

2015年，Ira、James、Georgia這三位一同走過25年的夥伴，因為軟體更新被迫更換工作室的錄音器材，於是靠著即興演奏熟悉新的器材。剛好他們接到一個案子：根據曾轟動全球書市的《背離親緣》一書構想而拍攝的同名紀錄片，其劇組找上門尋求部分配樂，工作數月後交出了對方喜愛的作品，三個人非常高興，因為即使貴為當今世上最棒的樂團之一，仍曾被業主狠狠打槍過。

自從傳奇專輯《Electr-O-Pura》以來，Yo La Tengo的創作過程總是充滿機遇、重製、拼貼，唯一的目標只是滿足自己的完美品味，讓堅毅且幽默的本性自然散發。於是配樂的案子結束後，他們自認時候到了，在沒有預先完成詞曲的情況下，著手將累積多年的錄音素材重新整理編曲成這張新專輯。

專輯名稱與1971年Sly and the Family Stone的經典專輯同名，呼應美國社會正面臨相同的黑暗時期。樂團自主製作，混音則交由2013年專輯《Fade》期間合作愉快的John McEntire擔綱，更加減少吉他聲響比例，凸顯如詩如畫的流動感。Krautrock演奏曲〈You Are Here〉揭開序幕，替整張專輯寫下甜美前言；〈She May, She Might〉宣示The Velvet Underground當今唯一傳人的地位；〈For You Too〉彷彿重新演繹經典名曲〈Blue Line Swinger〉，過去的催人淚下昇華成自在豁達；而極微聲響〈Shortwave〉之後的曲子，則是呈現Yo La Tengo近年節拍實驗的豐碩成果：Sun Ra式前衛爵士的〈Above the Sound〉、森巴搖擺的〈Esportes Casual〉、帶有trip hop氣味的〈Out of Pool〉，Ira也承認這麼多年來，他們總以錯誤的方式製作音樂，也非常自傲完成了獨一無二的風格。

在海上隨波浪漂浮時，耳裡嗡嗡作響，找到與自己對話的凝結時空，我們想起了夢想是甚麼。這就是Yo La Tengo的音樂暴動，直教人感嘆：「幸好有Yo La Tengo，他們的音樂將拯救一切！」

7 is our 7th full-length record. At its release, we will have been a band for over 13 years. We have now written and released a total of 77 songs together.
Last year, we released an album of b-sides and rarities. It felt like a good step for us. It helped us clean the creative closet, put the past to bed, and start anew.
Throughout the process of recording 7, our goal was rebirth and rejuvenation. We wanted to rethink old methods and shed some self-imposed limitations. In the past, we often limited our writing to parts that we could perform live. On 7, we decided to follow whatever came naturally. As a result, there are some songs with no guitar, and some without keyboard. There are songs with layers and production that we could never recreate live, and that is exciting to us. Basically, we let our creative moods, instead of instrumentation, dictate the album’s feel.
In the past, the economics of recording have dictated that we write for a year, go to the studio, and record the entire record as quickly as possible. We have always hated this because by the time the recording happens, a certain excitement about older songs has often been lost. This time, we built a "home" studio, and began all of the songs there. Whenever we had a group of 3-4 songs that we were excited about, we would go to a “proper” recording studio and finish recording them there. This way, the amount of time between the original idea and the finished song was pretty short (of the album’s 11 songs, 8 were finished at Carriage House in Stamford, CT and 2 at Palmetto Studio in Los Angeles).
7 didn’t have a producer in the traditional sense. We much preferred this, as it felt like the ideas drove the creativity, not any one person’s process. James Barone, who became our live drummer in 2016, played on the entire record. His tastes and the trust we have in him really helped us keep rhythm at the center of a lot of these songs. We also worked with Sonic Boom (Peter Kember). Peter became a great force on this record, in the shedding of conventions and in helping to keep the songs alive, fresh and protected from the destructive forces of recording studio over-production/over-perfection.
The societal insanity of 2016-17 was also deeply influential, as it must be for most artists these days. Looking back, there is quite a bit of chaos happening in these songs, and a pervasive dark field that we had little control over. The discussions surrounding women’s issues were a constant source of inspiration and questioning. The energy, lyrics and moods of much of this record grew from ruminations on the roles, pressures and conditions that our society places on women, past and present. The twisted double edge of glamour, with its perils and perfect moments, was an endless source (see “L’Inconnue,” “Drunk in LA,” “Woo,” “Girl Of The Year,” “Last Ride”).
In a more general sense, we are interested by the human mind's (and nature’s) tendency to create forces equal and opposite to those present. Thematically, this record often deals with the beauty that arises in dealing with darkness; the empathy and love that grows from collective trauma; the place one reaches when they accept rather than deny (see “Dark Spring,” “Pay No Mind,” “Lemon Glow,” “Dive,” “Black Car,” “Lose Your Smile”).
The title, 7, itself is simply a number that represents our seventh record. We hoped its simplicity would encourage people to look inside. No title using words that we could find felt like an appropriate summation of the album.
The number 7 does represent some interesting connections in numerology. 1 and 7 have always shared a common look, so 7 feels like the perfect step in the sequence to act as a restart or “semi-first.” Most early religions also had a fascination with 7 as being the highest level of spirituality, as in "Seventh Heaven.” At our best creative moments, we felt we were channeling some kind of heavy truth, and we sincerely hope the listeners will feel that.
Much Love,
Beach House
releases May 11, 2018

"It felt like we were in a movie that had a totally implausible ending..."
Slowdive's second act as a live blockbuster has already been rapturously received around the world. Highlights thus far include a festival-conquering, sea-of-devotees Primavera Sound performance, of which Pitchfork noted: "The beauty of their crystalline sound is almost hard to believe, every note in its perfect place."
"It was just nice to realise that there was a decent amount of interest in it," says principal songwriter Neil Halstead. The UK shoegaze pioneers have now channelled such seemingly impossible belief into a fourth studio opus which belies his characteristic modesty. Self-titled with quiet confidence, Slowdive's stargazing alchemy is set to further entrance the faithful while beguiling a legion of fresh ears.
Deftly swerving what co-vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell terms "a trip down memory lane", these eight new tracks are simultaneously expansive and the sonic pathfinders' most direct material to date. Birthed at the band's talismanic Oxfordshire haunt The Courtyard - "It felt like home," enthuses guitarist Christian Savill - their diamantine melodies were mixed to a suitably hypnotic sheen at Los Angeles' famed Sunset Sound facility by Chris Coady (perhaps best known for his work with Beach House, one of countless contemporary acts to have followed in Slowdive's wake).
"It's poppier than I thought it was going to be," notes Halstead, who was the primary architect of 1995's previous full-length transmission Pygmalion. This time out the group dynamic was all-important. "When you're in a band and you do three records, there's a continuous flow and a development. For us, that flow re-started with us playing live again and that has continued into the record."
Drummer and loop conductor Simon Scott enhanced the likes of 'Slomo' and 'Falling Ashes' with abstract textures conjured via his laptop's signal processing software. A fecund period of experimentation with "40-minute iPhone jams" allowed the unit to then amplify the core of their chemistry. "Neil is such a gifted songwriter, so the songs won. He has these sparks of melodies, like 'Sugar For The Pill' and 'Star Roving', which are really special. But the new record still has a toe in that Pygmalion sound. In the future, things could get very interesting indeed."
This open-channel approach to creativity is reflected by Slowdive's impressively wide field of influence, from indie-rock avatars to ambient voyagers - see the tribute album of cover versions released by Berlin electronic label Morr Music. As befits such evocative visionaries, you can also hear Slowdive through the silver screen: New Queer Cinema trailblazer Gregg Araki has featured them on the soundtracks to no less than four of his films.
"When I moved to America in 2008 I was working in an organic grocery store," recalls Christian. "Kids started coming in and asking if it was true I had played in Slowdive. That's when I started thinking, 'OK, this is weird!'"
Neil Halstead: "We were always ambitious. Not in terms of trying to sell records, but in terms of making interesting records. Maybe, if you try and make interesting records, they're still interesting in a few years time. I don't know where we'd have gone if we had carried straight on. Now we've picked up a different momentum. It's intriguing to see where it goes next."
The world has finally caught up with Slowdive. This movie could run and run...