Monday, June 3, 2013

The 88 return with new album

LA band The 88 (www.the88.net) unveil their sixth studio album, Fortune Teller, on June 11. It will be available on CD, digital and vinyl formats. The next day, The 88 hold a record release show at the Troubadour. 

The video for first single, “I Saw The Light That Day” off Fortune Teller is currently up at the band’s YouTube page featuring a mesmerizing one-take magic performance by magician Rob Zabrecky (www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXt9QGiNEtM).
 

“Releasing Fortune Teller feels like a new beginning,” said guitarist/songwriter Keith Slettedahl. "The band is in a place where we are all open to new ideas and willing to try things we haven't done before, like me playing piano on one of our records, or Adam Merrin our keyboard player, on guitar."

Besides performing with such artists as The B-52's, Smashing Pumpkins, Frank Black and Elliott Smith, the band has sustained itself in large part thanks to a seemingly infinite series of high-profile song placements - spanning films, commercials, video games, and TV shows - as well as resourceful projects like self-produced YouTube videos and the digital single, "Love Is The Thing," (2009) recorded entirely via iPhone app.

The 88 continue to see their film and television presence rise with music featured in the Universal Pictures film The Lorax, as well as their song, "At Least It Was Here," serving as the theme song to the NBC comedy Community that was just renewed for its fifth season. 


Last March, the band added a new credit to their resume: scoring a motion picture. For the upcoming Lionsgate release Friends With Kids, the band co-scored the Jennifer Westfeldt film and also contributing three original songs to the soundtrack.

For this album, the band switched instruments during the writing and recording resulting in an 88 record that is different than what the band has produced before. From the piano-driven opener "I Saw The Light That Day" to the longing beauty of ballad "The Clouds Rolled In”, the band made sure to work outside their comfort zone to create a new sound. Songs like "You Are In Love" and "Deep In Your Heart" boast both the vitality and craftsmanship of a seasoned band in full flight, brimming with both confidence and creativity.

Over the past few years, The 88 have been fortunate enough to hit the road with one of their idols, the Kinks' Ray Davies. Following US tour dates in 2010, late 2011 found the band supporting Davies on a run that also included a string of television appearances including Live With Regis & Kelly and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYeH5d2kDP4).


Davies also invited the band to record a number of songs at his infamous Konk Studios in London for a Kinks tribute compilation, See My Friends. The 88 played on songs by and with Ray Davies along with both Lucinda Williams and the late Alex Chilton, as well as dueting with Ray on "David Watts."

At the start of 2012, the band earned the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform a Kinks medley with Davies at Clive Davis' annual Pre-Grammy Gala, sharing the stage with Jackson Browne and Elvis Costello. The 88 closed out 2012 by opening up for and also backing up Ray Davies yet again on his West Coast tour of the U.S. which culminated in two incredible shows in Japan for Fuji Rock Festival.

Track Listing:

1. I Saw The Light That Day
2. You Are In Love
3. The Great Escape
4. Deep In Your Heart
5. Dreams
6. The Clouds Rolled In
7. I Got Lucky
8. Are You Sick?
9. Always Stay (Far Away)
10. I Won't Let You Go

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