UNIQUE transatlantic country blues exponents hey Negrita are back and better than ever with all-acoustic, melody-rich new album 'Burn The Whole Place Down’, released October 5.
Inspired by the success of a series of acoustic performances for various BBC shows – including Bob Harris on Radio Two – the band took time out from their tour in support of 2008 album 'You Can Kick’ and shifted into Miloko Studios, south London, for a spur-of-the-moment session.
'The idea was to cut as many tracks as we could in five hours without any overdubs or edits,' singer-songwriter Felix Bechtolsheimer explains. 'So we put down our electric guitars, turned off the amps and stripped back the drums. We just sat, in a circle, and put some microphones up. We didn’t even bother with headphones. We wanted to capture the raw energy of one of our live performances, while preserving the intimacy of how we sound when we’re jamming in the kitchen.'
The result of the impromptu session was 'Burn The Whole Place Down’, hey Negrita’s fourth and perhaps most diverse record to date. It may, in some ways, come as a surprise to anyone who has caught the band in action in recent years on their tours with Alabama 3, The Beach Boys and Tony Joe White, or at festivals such as SXSW, Glastonbury, Latitude and The End of the Road Festival.
Despite being renowned for the kind of raucous live performances that Mojo, in its review of the band’s recent Austin show, labelled 'a joyful sour-mash sodden affair’, this album of acoustic tracks sees hey Negrita shifting down several gears. In many ways the gentler, unplugged approach allows their deft way with melody and lyrics to shine through like never before.
Backed up by a series of the animated videos, a viral game from animation studio PEW 36 and four 'live in the studio’ films from award-winning director Alex Walker (of 'We Dreamed America’ fame), Fat Fox Records will be releasing two singles ahead of the launch of the album on October 5.
'One Mississippi’ single – August 31
'BURN THE WHOLE PLACE DOWN’ album – October 5
'Burn The Whole Place Down’ single – October 12
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