ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND + Jaymay

Mon 28th May 2007

The Luminaire presents
ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND
+ Jaymay

Doors 7.30
£9 door

Elvis Perkins is a singer-songwriter who can speak from both head and heart in equal measure. That fusion, as well as some seriously beautiful melodies, is on display in Perkins’ new album, 'Ash Wednesday'.

"A beautiful debut. Perkins is often downbeat but in a surreal, impressionistic way” [Rolling Stone]

'Ash Wednesday' feels both lived in and lived through, combining emotional intimacy with a warm-hearted studio sound that recalls Nick Drake and Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison. It's a beautiful album in which Perkins transforms circumstances of his personal life into compelling, dream-like songs with lyrics that teeter between the specific and the surreal.

"'Ash Wednesday' already feels like one of those classic albums you keep around forever.” [Paste]

For the last year and a half, Perkins (alongside his three-piece band: bassist Brigham Brough, keyboardist/guitarist Wyndham Boylan-Garnett, and drummer Nicholas Kinsey, known collectively as Elvis Perkins in Dearland) has been doing club dates in the USA to increasing acclaim; touring with such acts as Okkervil River, Dr. Dog, Matt Costa and the Pernice Brothers; appearing at events like Seattle’s Sasquatch! Festival, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits; and performing on radio stations like Seattle, Washington’s influential KEXP and L.A.’s KXLU.

"A wholly engaging album." [Spin]

Perkins’ live reputation has grown, along with his audience, aided no doubt by enthusing on-line bloggers. After a performance at Rockwood Music Hall, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, folks at Stereogum declared, “We were sold on the spot – fuss-worthy folkies just don’t come easy...Double bass, harmonica and strings color these lyrical laments, but the man’s easy melodicism is the real charm.”

Dearland is a family affair. Wyndham is Perkins’ godbrother. He doesn’t play on Ash Wednesday, although he was present at the sessions, while Nick and Brigham contributed performances. Live, the quartet continually experiments with Perkins’ repertoire, tinkering with the arrangements, playing around with tempos and varying the instrumentation: marching drum, harmonium, trombone, organ, piano, bells and whistles. "A momentous debut." [Filter]

'Ash Wednesday' conjures a powerful mood, with horn arrangements reminiscent of the both mournful and joyful brass bands played at New Orleans funerals and snatches of elegant, understated strings. Perkins divides the album into two distinct “sides,” with the title track as the metaphorical side-two starter, which, if you happen along - and you really ought to - you'll have the pleasure of hearing tonight.

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