In the age of the flailing record label (and economy), Team Love is wrapping 2009 on something of a high. The NY-based imprint saw a year of steady releases—including albums from Omaha godfather Simon Joyner, rock quartet Capgun Coup, and sharp-voiced Southern guitar virtuoso Taylor Hollingsworth—as well as the expansion of its forward-thinking Team Love library (where you can listen to every single release by simply creating a free account) and an ever-growing stash of design-savy merch.
No point in quitting when you’re ahead though. Here’s a look at some of its upcoming and very exciting projects that will surface in the coming months.
Midnight Masses, who signed to the label in November, is finally ready to release their debut EP, Rapture Ready, I Gazed at the Body. It’s a somber affair written in the wake of frontman Autry Rene Fulbright’s father’s death, and, from both a musical and lyrical standpoint, the four tracks on the release achieve more complexity than is found on a lot of albums three times the size. In other words, this one’s well worth the wait.
Pre-orders are shipping now through the Team Love store, while the EP’s official release date is next week, on December 15.
Meanwhile, Jason Boesel steps away from the drum kit to put his songwriting skills and throaty vocals to good use. The Rilo Kiley/Mystic Valley Band percussionist will release Hustler’s Son, which is technically his first solo record, but sees contributions from so many members of that particular brood (fellow Mystic Valley Bander Nik Freitas and Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett among them) that it’s more of a family affair. Which is just fine by us.
The album will drop January 10, 2010. Preview some of the tracks over at Jason’s MySpace right now.
And while you’re at it, listen to the Christmas classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” courtesy of A Weather. The band re-envisioned the song and recorded it over an orchestra of guitar and organ arrangements, and while it’s pretty, it’s not the most exiting news coming from that particular outfit’s corner these days. The band announced earlier this week that a new album is in the works and slated for a March 2010 release. Cove, the band’s debut from 2008, struck that razor-fine balance between heartening and heart-breaking, and if the artwork below is any indication, Everyday Balloons will deliver more of the same.
Tracklist:
01 “Third of Life”
02 “Winded”
03 “Ducks”
04 “Seven Blankets”
05 “Midday Moon”
06 “Newfallen”
07 “Newfallen”
08 “No Big Hope”
09 “Fond”
10 “Happiness”
11 “Giant Stairs”
12 “Lay Me Down”
