AM’s new album comes out in the UK August 30 digitally and September 6 in record stores. Planning US and UK tours for November.
Support the album now on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Sons-Daughters-Bonus-Tracks/dp/B003UAW91K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1279040010&sr=8-1-spell
AM’s new album “Future Sons & Daughters” is Album Of The Week at Rough Trade in the UK.
AM’s ‘Future Sons & Daughters’ is a moody and inspired album that touches on all of the New Orleans-musician’s favourite styles from baroque chamber pieces to mid-tempo country rockers. in that sense, such tracks as the atmospheric phil spector-ish number ‘the other side,’ the lead single ‘grand opinion,’ and the mellow country-rock anthem ‘fortunate family tree’ deliver on AM’s knack for quirky ’60s pop-inspired songs. similarly, the duet with Angela Correa, ‘it’s been so long,’ is pleasantly reminiscent of the classic lee hazlewood / nancy sinatra pairings. fans of introspective, classicist pop with more than a bit of wit and charm should find much to enjoy on ‘Future Sons & Daughters’.
Free! Starbucks is giving away a free itunes download card of AM’s song “It’s Been So Long” from the album Future Sons & Daughters.
AM guests on friend Shawn Lee’s KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic performance on August 25, 2010 with DJ Jason Bentley. Shawn Lee has a new album called “Into The Wind” (Ubiquity) which is a collaboration with Bei Bei. Check it out.
Watch AM’s own KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic performance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fx8_Zow1q8
“Local favorite AM adds a Brazilian twist to the expertly-crafted songs on his new album, Future Sons & Daughters.”- KCRW, 89.9 Los Angeles
Watch AM’s interview on French Canadian Musique Plus TV where he talks about touring with AIR and also Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Artist: AM
Album: Future Sons & Daughters
By J. Poet, Crawdaddy
There’s a Portuguese word that perfectly fits the music of AM: Saudade.
There’s no word in English that means exactly the same thing, but saudade is a feeling most romantic souls are aware of; an emotional state that can only be expressed by a long, unwieldy English definition. In English vernacular, you might say saudade is an aching desire to recapture a feeling that no longer exists, or probably never existed, a yearning for a better, happier, more content time—probably in the past, but possibly in a future everyone knows we may never attain. Bossa Nova, fado, and Cape Verdean mourna are all heavy with saudade, as is the music AM and his band on Future Sons & Daughters.
AM has touted his love of Brazilian music, and there is, in fact, an instrumental track on Future Sons & Daughters named Jorge Ben, after the Tropicalia guitarist, singer, and composer. But like all of the music on the album, “Jorge Ben” is anything but straightforward. There’s no samba, or bossa, or even Brazilian reggae there. It’s a Memphis soul groove halfway between soul and funk, accented by Jesse Nason’s sci-fi organ and AM’s guitar teasing out sounds that bounce between spaghetti Western twang and rhythmic R&B chord clusters. Tropicalia was inspired in part by American soul music, but that’s about the only connection between the title and the propulsive rhythm that AM and his band lay down. This oblique approach is evident on the album’s 10 songs as well. The tunes all inhabit a vague emotional space that’s suggested rather than spelled out. Take “It’s Been So Long”, a duet with the feathery voiced Angela Correa, for example. AM sings, “Who’s right, who’s wrong / It doesn’t matter, ” with a resigned tone that lets you know it matters very much, even as he struggles with his confused emotions. The reverb on his vocals adds a dark Serge Gainsbourg-ish feel to the track.
The melancholy of “Darker Days” suggests a hybrid of Philly soul and Motown, with AM’s falsetto adding a touch of blue-eyed soul to the chorus, while “When the Dust Settles” floats through a haze of late ’60s psychedelia. The song starts quietly, with voice and organ creating a delicious tension, and then the chorus kicks in with clanging electric guitar. After the bridge, the guitar grows to fill an immense sonic space and AM’s vocals float off with the keys providing spacey, Theremin-like textures. AM’s phrasing here has its own inimitable pace. He breaks up his melodic lines in unexpected places, adding unexpected touches of tension and release to the music. The lyrics are poetic but vague, hinting at loss, longing, and a belief in a better tomorrow that will probably never come.
Other winners include “The Other Side”, a breezy confection that combines ukulele, spaghetti Western guitar, ’60s girl group handclaps, and rippling piano arpeggios to paint the picture of an uncertain love affair; “Leavenworth”, a simple, folky ballad, which may or may not be about being in an emotional prison, highlighted by glockenspiel, chiming electric piano, and a big thrumming bass guitar; and “A Complete Unknown”, a spunky rocker that has hints of funk and Latin music in its rhythm, without ever settling into either groove.
AM has obviously immersed himself in the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s, but he doesn’t write songs that are obvious knock offs or slavish echoes of pop hits past. His mellow tenor, and the ingenious arrangements of his band may suggest the past, but it’s the past of a soul drunk on saudade. These tunes are pure pop for now people, to plagiarize a phrase.
Volunteer, Donate, Give. AM’s song featured on the home page of www.redcross.org
RED CROSS VIDEO
Artist: AM
Song: Old Song
Future Sons & Daughters will be released in the UK on August 30th, 2010.
Thanks for all the emails regarding hearing “Self Preservation” played on John Kennedy’s XFM. Check out the XFM playlist here:
http://www.xfm.co.uk/onair/djs/john-kennedy
X-Posure Playlist
Thursday 17th June 2010
Artists In Residence: Connan Mockasin
One Night Stand: We Are Knuckle Dragger
X-Posure Live Sets: Shy Child / Losers / Villa Nah
X-Posure Hot One: Grovesnor ‘Dan’ (Lo)
X-Posure Big One: Janelle Monae ‘Tightrope’ (Atlantic)
10-11pm
The X-Certs ‘Slackerpop’ (Xtra Mile)
Frightened Rabbit ‘Living In Colour’ (Fat Cat)
Funeral Party ‘New York City Moves To The Sound Of LA’ (RCA)
Kele ‘Tenderoni’ (Wichita)
Everything Everything ‘Schoolin’ (Dekker & Johan Remix)’ (Geffen)
X-Posure Hot One: Grovesnor ‘Dan’ (Lo)
One Night Stand, Session Track: We Are Knuckle Dragger ‘ME’
One Night Stand: Phone Interview w/ Aran of We Are Knuckle Dragger
One Night Stand, Session Track: We Are Knuckle Dragger ‘Explanations With Connotations’
Pulled Apart By Horses ‘Yeah Buddy’ (Transgressive)
Patch William ‘The Last Bus’ (Hubris)
Tim And Sam’s Tim & The Sam Band With Tim & Sam ‘Finders Keepers’ (Full Of Joy)
Arcade Fire ‘We Used To Wait’ (Mercury)
11pm-Midnight (Deep)
Turbo Fruits ‘Get Up Get On Down’ (Ark)
Acoustic Ladyland ‘Sport Mode’ (Strong & Wrong)
We Are Scientists ‘Goal! England’ (www.goalengland.co.uk)
Male Bonding ‘Weird Feelings’ (Sub Pop)
Donaeo ‘I’m Fly (John Kennedy Dubplate)’ ()
Pigbag ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag (Brand New Pigbag Remix Radio Edit)’ ()
One Night Stand, Session Track: We Are Knuckle Dragger ‘Steel Toe Capped Sandal’
Lower Than Atlantis ‘Far Q’ (A Wolf At Your Door)
Artists In Residence, Session Track: Connan Mockasin ‘It’s Choade My Dear’
X-Posure Live Set: Shy Child – recorded at X-Posure Live 10/5/10 @ The Barfly, London
Midnight-1am (Deeper!)
X-Posure Big One: Janelle Monae ‘Tightrope’ (Atlantic)
X-Posure Live Set: Losers ‘Flush / Theme From Losers / Fashion / ? / ?’ – recorded at X-Posure Live 10/5/10
@ The Barfly, London
Peggy Sue ‘Yo Mama’ (Wichita)
X-Posure Live Set: Villa Nah ‘Running On / Envelope / Remains Of Love / Ways To Be’ -
recorded at X-Posure Live 10/5/10 @ The Barfly, London
1-2am (Deeper Still!)
Standard Fare ‘Dancing’ (Melodic/Thee SPC)
Plan B ‘Prayin’ (Breakage RMX)’ ()
Primary 1 ‘Princess (Isa Machine Revolution)’ (Warner Bros)
AM ‘Self Preservation’ (Naim)
Walls ‘Hang Four’ (Kompakt)
The Chemical Brothers ‘Dissolve’ (Parlophone/Freestyle Dust)
The Robot Heart ‘Raining Stones’ (Bleeding Heart)
Charlie Calleja ‘Anything Goes’ ()
The 2:54 ‘Creeping’ (www.myspace.com/thetwofiftyfour)
Korrallreven ‘The Truest Faith’ ()
Psychobuildings ‘No Man’s Land’ ()
Weedys ‘Stuck In The…’ ()
Video of the power trio (AM, Chris Lovejoy, Brett Bixby) performing Samba De Uma Nota
What this means is we are touring with AIR in France and the album is debuting through the lovely French company Believe. Can’t wait.
Air en tournée :
Jeudi 10 juin : Le Bikini/Toulouse
Vendredi 11 juin : Théâtre de la Mer/Sète
Samedi 12 juin : Le Pasino/Aix en Provence
Dimanche 13 juin : Le Transbordeur/Lyon
Les premières parties de cette tournée seront assurées par l’américain AM. Natif de la Nouvelle-Orléans, AM s’est installé à Los Angeles pour enregistrer Future Sons & Daughters, produit par Charles Newman (The Magnetic Fields 69 Lovesongs/ Realism), un album combinant mélodies psychédéliques, tropicalisme brésilien et British Invasion. Cet album sera disponible sur iTunes dès le 8 juin prochain via Believe Digital.
