Scout’s Ashen Keilyn has a voice that is instantly recognizable. It’s earnest and inviting despite that, in this track, it’s singing of heartache and pain. Of “So Close” Ashen says, “It’s a song I wrote after one of many arguments. The line ‘So I’m stuck down here with my heart in a splint / getting so close to calling it quits’…well that’s exactly how I felt at the time.”
Ashen, and Scout, are preparing to release their first album since 2003, and much like last time it will include guitarist Steve Schiltz. Though some things have changed since 2003, obviously, as at that time Schiltz was just starting to get things going with his band Longwave. Now Longwave is gone, but Schiltz has remained busy on the scene with his solo project, Hurricane Bells, and a new label imprint in Invisible Brigades, which will be releasing the new Scout effort.
This video comes from director Bill Moldt, recorded live in Olé Recording studios in Queens and caputres Keilyn and Schiltz on guitars, with Schiltz singing falsetto backing vocals (and manning the omnichord/drum machine). The new Scout album, All Those Relays, also partially produced by drummer/producer of Spoon Jim Eno, will be released March 27 via Invisible Brigades.
Things just keep getting better over at the Hurricane Bells camp, and that’s saying something considering their first major appearance was on a platinum selling album.
Hot off of a successful Pledge Music fund raising project, Steve Schiltz, lone permanent member of Hurricane Bells, is up and running with his Invisible Brigades imprint, a freshly designed website, new merch and (my personal favorite of all of it) vinyl. I’d like to think that he pressed the vinyl specifically because I begged him to do so, but I know that had nothing to do with it, but I’m not complaining and I’m willing to take the credit. Your welcome.
The albums official release was actually a few weeks ago, on October 25, so there’s no time like the present to head on over to the Hurricane Bells bandcamp site and grab the new tracks digitally, on CD or limited edition vinyl.
Equally as important, or maybe more important, see them live! There are several shows lined up for December in California and back on the East coast in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. I’m going to miss being able to catch the shows at the Mohawk Place in Buffalo, but that doesn’t mean you should! Now get out there and see them live and grab some tunes.
Of course you can listen to the new tracks at the Hurricane Bells bandcamp site, where you can also purchase the music in any format except 8-track and wax cylinder
And check their site for tour dates, new merch, videos and everything else you could want.
Hurricane Bells has released a fantastic full length and and equally fantastic EP in the past couple of years. The latest release, “Tides and Tales”, will be released through Steve Schiltz’s own Invisible Brigades imprint.
I’ll let him do the talking:
Hello everyone,
I and we have made a new Hurricane Bells record, named Tides and Tales. The album was recorded in much the same way as the last one: I produced, recorded and mixed nearly all of it over the last few months. This time, I asked a few of my friends to play on it. If you’ve seen a Hurricane Bells show in the last 6 months/year, then you’ve seen the group who recorded most
of the new album. We had a great time and it sounds awesome.
For you Blue October fans, I was able to get Justin Furstenfeld to play on a couple of tracks. And for you Scout fans, Ashen is singing, too. We also have Dave Doobinin from the band Son Of George singing on one track.
My manager Chris and I have talked a lot about how to release the record. And in the DIY and independent spirit, it will be coming out on my label, Invisible Brigades. We do most things ourselves, but when releasing an album and hoping to tour around it, we need some additional support. So
we have decided to use PledgeMusic to help. With them, you’ll be able to Pledge support and then you get stuff – exclusive vinyl and shirts, signed discs, a house concert, album prints/posters, “Twilight” DVDs, one of my beautiful old Gibson guitars… all kinds of things.
And yes, again, we are doing vinyl this time 🙂
Your pledges will directly help us master and manufacture the new record…but more importantly, it will help us tour and promote the record. This is where most of the money goes, for an indie band like Hurricane Bells.
So don’t wait! Head on over to Pledgemusic.com and front some money, get your hands on the limited edition vinyl, or if you want to lay down the big bucks you can get your hands on one of the guitars that Steve used in the recording process.
I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.
If you need convincing, here is a page that I found that has collected on it most of the videos that Bill Moldt has directed for Hurricane Bells (and Steve’s previous project, Longwave).
And below is the video for “Freezing Rain” which holds a special place in my heart as it was shot in my (our) hometown of Rochester, NY.
Musicians are of that breed of individual that wear their emotions on their sleeve. They seem to feel them more intensely than others, or are at least worse at hiding their emotions than everyone else. So many musicians, that didn’t die from a drug overdose (which might be a reaction to feeling emotions in itself), chose to kill themselves after a life of writing desperately painful, heartfelt songs and honest lyrics. Mark Linkous shot himself in the heart, Nick Drake overdosed on his anti-depressants after several years of insomnia and depression, and Elliott Smith possibly stabbed himself in the heart.
Words can be powerful enough, but, combined with music, some artists can really pull a listener in and make them actually feel how they truly feel. It is the purpose of art to make others feel and this collection of lyrics certainly could make even the coldest heart empathetic.
Andrew Bird, “Armchairs” from the album “Armchair Apocrypha”
“You didn’t write, you didn’t call. It didn’t cross your mind at all.”
The despair in this lyric is pretty intense. It conjures images of waiting by the phone, hoping that the one person that you love will just contact you and let you know that they feel the same. The call never comes, your heart sinks in the realization of your unrequited love. The time comes where you have to slowly let all of those built up feelings go, as they were misguided in the first place.
This longing is only heightened by Bird’s arrangement at this point in the song. Considering that it is over 7 minutes long it is really a daring bit of songwriting and arranging. He manages to, just before this point in the song, strip away nearly everything until only his voice remains, whispering into your ear. As soon as the line in question is sun everything comes back after a brief and dramatic build. The solitary upper pedal tone produced by the violin highlights the deep emotional torment plaguing the narrator of the song. Very powerful.
Titus Andronicus, “No Future Part 3: Escape from No Future”, from the album “The Monitor”
“I used to look myself in the mirror at the end of every day, but I took the one thing that made me beautiful and I threw it away.”
This line pretty much speaks for itself. Taken from the perspective of someone who has, apparently, fucked up their life beyond repair, or at least beyond what they think is reparable. There is so much regret that he can’t even stand to face himself anymore. The absolute bottom has been reached, and what is worse is that he knows that things used to be better but is unsure as to whether or not things will return to the way that they once were.
Musically this song is set in 3 general sections. This line appears at the beginning of the 2nd of those sections. Patrick Stickles growls and spits these words out with ruthless efficiency. He knows the pain he feels, and angrily shouts it out through clenched teeth. In an album that is full of emotionally devastating and honest lyrics this one stands out to me as one of the most affecting.
Hurricane Bells, “This Year” from the album “Tonight is the Ghost”
“You can always walk away if you see me comin’. I don’t think about you, I don’t think about you.”
It’s hard to accurately picture this lyric or portray it outside of the context of the song, which moves ably from optimism to pessimism from line to line. There is a sense that two people need to be apart, but no reason is given as to why. Perhaps neither of them completely understands why they need to be apart. It is clear, however, that the narrator is trying to be strong about it, knowing that he is going to go on doing what he needs to do and if that other person happens to come across him then it is up to them to turn around if they don’t want to or can’t deal with the sight of him. Meanwhile he tries to convince himself that he doesn’t think about her. His repeating this immediately, like a mantra is telling of the fact that he really isn’t strong enough to deal with the situation.
The Burning Hell, “It Happens in Florida”, from the album “Tick-Tock”
“Love, it’s like a hurricane. It happens in Florida. It destroys everything.”
The Burning Hell are full of tongue in cheek, self-deprecating lyrics. This one hits close to the heart though. There is a sincerity in this song that seems to want to let the listener know that they are serious this time.
This line is the final lyric of the song that is one continuous build. It is preceded by other lines that are borderline absurd, but after hearing these words the simple chord progression continues, unchanged for 2 more minutes allowing the listener to ponder the gravity of some of those lyrics that they may have previously considered silly. I have already talked about this one in detail here.
Tom Waits, “Georgia Lee” from the album “Mule Variations”
“Be sure to find me. I want you to find me and we’ll play all over, we will play all over again”
Tom Waits is a true artist and prolific songwriter. The grit in his voice lends an emotional power that few are able to muster. The fact that this song is simply his voice and piano with double bass also adds to the desperate loneliness of the subject matter. Abandonment, from family and even from God. There is no way to write a more heart wrenching song. The line here is the definition of devastating, longing for the past that will never return. “Be sure to find me, I want you to find me” speaks of our desire to be wanted and loved by others, but this song doesn’t find any silver lining. Sometimes you will be forgotten. It isn’t ones right to be loved, it can only be a hope and dream and sometimes dreams go unfulfilled. Sometimes there isn’t a silver lining, sometimes there is no salvation for people. Tom Waits is honest enough, and artist enough to speak this truth and I can’t imagine a soul on this Earth not being deeply touched by the setting of this lyric.
Hurricane Bells is the latest project from Steve Schiltz, of Longwave fame. After releasing their album “Secrets are Sinister” in 2008 Schiltz began working on some songs by himself at his home with nothing but a Macbook and an M-box. The result was Hurricane Bells‘ first full length album “Tonight is the Ghost”.
Steve Schiltz of Hurricane Bells
“Monsters“, with it’s crunchy guitar sound and classic rock feel was taken for use in the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack, which catapulted Steve and his Hurricane Bells moniker into the spotlight. He has the platinum record to prove it. Anyway, a tour of India followed, a tour of the U.S. followed that (with a show in Canada as well), and now he is back with a new EP, “Down Comes the Rain”. Not only is the new EP available for pre-order right now from the Hurricane Bells site, but it’s appearing on a new label that Steve started called Invisible Brigades.
Very exciting news indeed.
There are also a few shows coming up in NYC and DC and sure to be more on the way. For now though you can watch the latest video for “The Waiting Song”, directed by Bill Moldt. Also check out the video that Moldt did for “Tonight is the Ghost” opener “This Year“. It’s a truly amazing and emotional video that works perfect with the song.
“Down Comes the Rain” is set for official release on September 28 and will come with a bonus re-mix EP. Head over to the Hurricane Bells site to pre-order it now.
![Scout - "All Those Relays"](http://quartertonality.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/scout-all-those-relays-cover.jpeg "Scout - "All Those Relays"")
![Hurricane Bells - "Tides and Tales"](http://quartertonality.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2634432149-1.jpg "Hurricane Bells - "Tides and Tales"")
