Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51A8KQ81D9L._SS500_.jpg

Golden Archipelago is the new album by Shearwater to be released on Matador Records on February 23, 2010. The first 10,000 CDs come packaged with a 50-page perfect-bound book of dossier of records, photos, regulations, and images on islands, displaced peoples, immigration records and more.

Track Listings:

1. Meridian
2. Black Eyes
3. Landscape at Speed
4. Hidden Lakes
5. Corridors
6. God Made Me
7. Runners of the Sun
8. Castaways
9. An Insular Life
10. Uniforms
11. Missing Islands

and it has now leaked, getting now.

Who needs Stereogum when we've got Bee OK?

Bee OK is awesome imo. These album-oriented threads are great to read.

Having said that, I never understood the enthusiasm for Shearwater.

haha

xpost

just trying to do my little thing to add to this amazing board!

I really like the other two shearwater albums but they haven't stuck with me the way I'd thought they would when I first heard them; but this is kind of true of lots of things this day, so I'm not sure it's the fault of the records or my terrible attention span.

It's like, they felt important, but then wound up not being very important, personally.

There are individual songs I love on each of their other albums, but tbh a lot of the songs kinda wash over me and don't leave much of an impact.

I was just giving Bee OK some shit, it seems like 99% of his posts involve album tracklists or leak notifications.

(xpost - akm otm)

bee's a she!

o and i liked 'rook' a lot although if 'the snow leopard' and 'century eyes' were my fave trax i prob don't 'get' this band very well - looking frwd to this nonetheless

Oh shit, I didn't know that. Sorry Bee! I'm just making a huge ass out of myself tonight.

no. i'm not.

xpost

"rooks" is one my fave albums of the last coupla years tbqf

am i thinking of dee the lurker? i always end up making an ass out of myself more than anyone else so it's cool

i have a feeling I should see them live and then I'd love them more.

a thousand sorries, obviously. i am excited to hear your verdict on this album! is it even more hollistastic than before? are the lyrics cribbed from ursula leguin? we must know.

AKM OTM. Not sure at all what I make of that cover. I look forward to this, just not, like, massively. It'll be good, and nice, and feel great for about four months.

so?

Not really listened to it, to be honest. So much other stuff that this has got a little lost.

i tried. once again, couldn't get into shearwater.

listening now:
more of the same (more or less).

I've been listening to "Castaways" for months, and really looking forward to the whole thing. "More of the same" would be fine with me: they've been getting better at that thing with each album.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514OAOL84gL._SS500_.jpg

Sub Pop is proud to present Shearwater's Animal Joy, our first album by the band and their eighth overall. Led by Jonathan Meiburg, and featuring drummer Thor Harris, and bassist Kimberly Burke, Shearwater has been a favorite at Sub Pop HQ for years. On Animal Joy, Meiburg ditches the expansive approach of his recent records particularly the epic trilogy of Palo Santo, Rook and The Golden Archipelago to create a record that seems shockingly direct, immediate and intensely personal. He's no stranger to lush, crafted recordings, but this one sounds like no prior Shearwater incarnation.

i had no idea that a new album was out this week, going to have to seek this one out. hope it's on Spotify.

Its going to be interesting to see how this new one holds up. Its a lot more immediate than their previous stuff, I'm used to it taking 3 or 4 listens before their stuff really starts to sink in.

this album (the new one, not Archipelago) is really awesome and kinda cheezy. love all the huge booming drums and harp flourishes. weirdly enough, they still sound a lot like Talk Talk; but the reference point has shifted from Spirit of Eden back to Colour of Spring. "I Believe in You" + "Happiness Is Easy" = "Believing Makes It Easy"???

PS album cover is hideous, in an utterly charming way

fav songs = "Pushing the River" & the "You As You Were"/"Insolence"/"Immaculate" sequence. everything before "You As You Were" is good but frequently skipped

i just kinda remembered that this album (the new one) existed last week and gave it a listen. it's p good!

has anyone listened to this years Fellow Travelers album? we haven't talked about it yet but also know it's brand new.

OK so I'm seeing them tonight. Been on a real Shearwater kick lately but the new one hasn't really done anything for me with the exception of the one original song on it, "A Wake for the Minotaur". Why do bands do albums of covers, I wonder. Anyway, I can't get enough of Rook, The Golden Archipelago and especially Animal Joy at the moment. As a massive Okkervil River fan I used to think that Sheff was the more creative half of their former partnership, but the last OR album was a bit so-so and now I think Meiburg is at least as good a songwriter as him if not better.

New album Jet Plane and Oxbow on the way, not really feeling the first track off it I have to say:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr2pdwhjtjU

cover looks like a Muse record, intro sounds like an Editors record. :)

enjoyed their covers album though :)

haven't listened to them in a while but I don't mind the single, and the involvement of Brian Reitzell is intriguing.

This sucks, get back to ripping off Talk Talk you feebs

I agree this sucks but Shearwater have never been Talk Talk ripoffs.

Just for my reference, which record is closest to a talk talk ripoff? So I can buy it

some hideous amalgamation of Palo Santo, Rook, and Golden Archipelago which discards all of the uptempo tracks -- first of those three has the most consistently Hollis-y vocals, last has the most aggressive dynamic shifts

the opener of Palo Santo is probably the most Talk Talk-like track in their entire discography, though, and the comparison has never stuck to them the way it does with e.g. Bark Psychosis

New album out now and streaming in full here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ButIZ6xAP2M

Not really hitting me at first listen but most of their albums have been growers so we shall see.

"Filaments" is a very fine Radiohead-in-krautrock-mode imitation.

Jeez, if it's not Talk Talk people are accusing Jonathan Meiburg of ripping off, it's Radiohead. I get that every band has influences but imho Shearwater are a very long way off crossing the line that separates influence from imitation. I think the Talk Talk or Radiohead similarities are way overstated anyway.

I think the new one is pretty great, right in my wheelhouse. I read that the band had (pre-RIP) been planning to play Bowie's "Lodger" start to finish on tour, and joke or not that makes perfect sense. I also hear a bit of "Remain in Light" in here, at least on "Filaments." Or rather, I can imagine had Bowie been in Talking Heads that this is the sort of "Remain in Light" he would have made in 1980.

xpost Huh, "Filaments" was the one you thought sounded like Radiohead? Nah.

god i love his voice and the instrumentation is really intriguing

Yeah, I hear all sorts of classic early '80s art rock, from THs and Bowie to U2. But I don't hear a lot of aping, which is key, I think.

Like, this is a better U2/Waterboys/Big Music riff than Coldplay could ever hope for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcqz9OB3AcA

i haven't kept up with this dude in recent years but Palo Santo was one of my favorite records at the time, will check this one out

i fucking love "quiet americans," wow

hope this isn't like how the only song i love off of rook is "rook"

It's unfair to the band that I keep hearing things I recognize from other bands, but they're all from bands I by and large like, so I guess that's cool.

This sounds like their best in a while, they sort of lost me after Rook.

Honestly, their sound got so insular for a little while it's actually kind of relief hearing shades of other bands in their albums

given how he does, i dont doubt this will be good.

On October 17th, 18th, and 19th, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of "Heroes", and in collaboration with Arts Brookfield and WNYC's New Sounds Live, the Jet Plane and Oxbow lineup of SW (me, Emily Lee, Sadie Powers, Lucas Oswald, and Josh Halpern) will form the nucleus of an all-star lineup performing Bowie's entire "Berlin Trilogy" of albums (1979's Lodger, 1978's "Heroes", and 1977's Low) at the magnificent Winter Garden Atrium at Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, near the World Trade Center.

2nd Loma LP forthcoming, Brian Eno guests, first song is great. everyone pls check out the first album, it's stunning in places

https://youtu.be/oq5X2G5qKQI

Loma hugely underrated

yes! lots of gems on the first album but "Black Willow" immediately became one of my favorite songs ever

New (crowd-funded) album about to drop, a couple of singles have been released from it already and are sounding gorgeous. The last two albums traded their Talk Talk influences for a fuller rock/80s synth-based sound, but by the sound of it this new one may mark a partial return to what they call the 'Island Arc trilogy' (Palo Alto, Rook, The Golden Archipelago). Those in need of a Talk Talk fix may want to check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVH506GaZHs

That is lovely, I'm on board.

I enjoyed Jonathan Meiburg's Loma project too, which had a couple of moments of serious TT influence.

they used to play The Rainbow at live shows iirc

I mean this song is really lovely, albeit in debt to that late TT method of arranging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq5X2G5qKQI

yeah that's a good one

and yes aqaba is beautiful

ooh very much in favour of something that's continuing on from the loma album, i adored that

If you're into signed cds, https://shearwater.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-awakening-2022 is down to 67/500 left.

I think I posted this elsewhere a while back, the band 'Gaze is Ghost' are in that similar beautiful vein as Aqaba.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0tL9wrJZig

new album is extraordinary, maybe my favorite by them?

i have very high expectations based on the advance singles + don't shy away and this material has if anything been more talk talk than they ever were before

dan dusyznski from loma has also stayed with meiburg for this album as his main collaborator & co-producer

On this last day of 2021, we give you some pics from the first recording sessions (10 days!) for album #3. This is just the very beginning, but we like where it’s started. :) For us, 2022 will be full of music making. And for that, we are very excited. Happy New Year, Lomans! pic.twitter.com/5q4vTZNdfP

— LOMA (@lomatheband) December 31, 2021

& a new loma album is apparently already in the works too

i'd love it if they went on tour together

album is pretty good but doesn't quite live up to don't shy away

It's not quite Talk Talk but it is gorgeous and immersive and intimate and all-but-impossible to switch off before the whole album has run its course.

(I am speaking about the new album, The Great Awakening, in case that was unclear)

Absolutely loving this new album. "There Goes the Sun" is gorgeous.

Harp, the new project by one of the guys from midlake, is giving me medieval Shearwater vibes
https://harpband.bandcamp.com/track/i-am-the-seed

New one on the way! https://shearwater.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-world

What an underrated band. New one is as Talk Talk-y as ever.

What a wild thread, that hasn't yet reached that magical 100 posts mark yet.

I'm so in the mood for a new Shearwater album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqfqt1XYuds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erNfhnYq7ZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbyEuLBeKRg

The New World is the name of the album for2026. The second song Slugs was the best song of those three videos. Wish I didn’t post the last one as its a throwaway but got star struck.

yeah this is an astonishing album. final track with Laurie Anderson is exquisite.

Yes now I want an album length collaboration.

"the only sound i'm afraid of" \m/

I was listening to "Jet Plane and Oxbow" again, and while I don't think this was the band's intent, I can imagine them thinking, goddam, if this album didn't get us a huge audience, I guess nothing ever will.

Get your headphones on for The New World. The attention and detail to all aspects of sound is unbelievable and deserves your full attention. What a great album.

continuing to be very talk talk is welcome

Gave this my full attention and a reasonably loud listen. Definitely, the songs are strong and the production is exquisite. Their best so far? Gotta play it again.

Get your headphones on for The New World.

No kidding. It's amazing how much time and effort is made to make these albums sound good only to have someone listen to it on a speaker the size of a tic tac box. What a haunting, haunted album, but aren't they pretty much all? I haven't read any interviews, but if you told me it was a concept album about dementia, I'd believe you.

I've been listening to You and Your Dog multiple times a day for the last few days. Album is brilliant - that track is astonishing

So, what was the seed for ‘You and Your Dog’?

The final track on the album came from a little piano phrase that I made up just idly while I was waiting for Dan to get something ready in the studio in Texas. I just made a track that was just that piano figure over and over, and we started adding to it and putting more little elements in it. I love that it just sort of sits there in this one state that is changing, but it’s also always the same at the same time. I tried singing over it, and I was just bored with what I was coming up with. I really didn’t like the sound of my voice, I didn’t like the melodies I had in mind. I just sat there with this piece, and while I was working with Laurie in Manchester on the ARK project, I was listening to her constantly, refining the the text of that show. I thought, “Maybe I could get Laurie to read something over this. But read what?”

So I tried some different quotes from things, and then I wrote out this little story. I thought, “I bet she’d sound really good reading this story.” I sent it to her and I said, “Look, I don’t like the sound of my own voice doing this, but I would love it if you would do it.” She said, “I’d be happy to.” So then a couple months later, she did two takes of the story and sent it to us. I was back in Texas with Dan doing some editing on the record, and the takes were interesting because they were very different. They came from completely different emotional places. One of them seemed sort of more cold and removed, and the other was much more emotional. And we ended up combining the two into the narrative as you hear it on that song.

I love that she just appears next to you when you’ve been listening to about a minute and a half of music, and it’s like, “Hey buddy.” (laughs) She’s just standing right next to you. And then she tells you this story. Because you trust her voice. It’s just a voice that you believe in, whether you know who she is or not. You trust her to lead you somewhere. And the place that she leads you to in this song is a bit unsettling. And then the record sort of drops you off there in this really long, long, long fade. It’s something that we recorded at Leo’s, which is a hurdy-gurdy – you know how you’re turning this little crank that makes contact with some strings to make this sound? Well, that’s just the sound of the crank, with the strings muted. It’s this tiny little sound that seems it’s very close to you and seems to be almost inside your ear; one you might imagine while you’re falling asleep or something. And then some coyotes appear there at the very end that we recorded in Los Angeles where we were mixing the record.

The combination of takes creates a really interesting contrast, because you hear this voice that’s warm in its familiarity, almost sentimental, but then also unsettling.

Like a curdled memory or something, or maybe a clearer one. I felt when we were done with that track, and as it was shaping up, that this is really something special, and I couldn’t think of where else you would put it. You’d have to put it at the end of the record. Anytime you’re working on a project, it’s always helpful to know what the beginning is and what the end is, and so we knew at that point, as we were assembling the record, that we’re working towards that moment.

Did she tell you anything about the story or did you just record it?

No. She said later, “Reading it, I felt like this was almost like a memory I had, like this is something that had actually happened to me.” But I was just thrilled that it worked. I tried to write it to her strike zone, and she really hit it out of the park.

https://ourculturemag.com/2026/07/30/shearwater-the-new-world-interview/

I would have put money on that story having been written by her!

The vibe of “You and Your Dog” is very Cassandra Jenkins, definitely one of the tracks of the year for me

I can't put my finger on exactly why this song is so heartbreaking, but oh my days.

I love how in that interview he makes the observation that Laurie Anderson's voice is simultaneously so comforting and unsettling. Even though she didn't write this story it reflects a lot of the strengths of her own work, tuned in to this unique frequency at once profound, funny, sad, personal. I wonder if Anderson has ever recorded an audiobook, and what that would be like ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRaFed9Of1o

that's a great performance but i'm kinda baffled by the guy playing guitar & drums at the same time

not sure why but the album version is more captivating to me. got kind of bored with this.

New song from upcoming album. I'd say they continue making captivating music.

https://shearwater.bandcamp.com/track/light-governance

wow, great track

This is great, thanks for the heads up

Oh, Shahzad Ismaily is on this, he's an incredible musician

i didn't realise there was a second album from the same sessions on the way, that's great news

I've got a ticket to see Shearwater & Loma play in November

I'll see them in Berlin on Nov., 5th. Both bands are phantastic. Actually I discovered Loma before Shearwater. Very excited to see them live.