BigHassle.Com: Halloween, Alaska

Halloween, Alaska

Halloween, Alaska 's new album is called Champagne Downtown , but this is not a band bent on velvet-rope postures or boozy indulgence. Instead, these men specialize in the passionate dismantling of such tropes. When singer James Diers gently croons, "I say we burn down the Hollywood Sign and tear apart the judges with our bare hands," it's not a battle cry, but rather an affirmation, a call to embrace the radical notion of simply being who you are.

If Halloween, Alaska 's self-titled 2004 debut was a critically anointed indie gem--scoring wider notoriety via TV's The O.C. --and 2005's Too Tall to Hide was hailed as a "jittery jungly and swooningly melodic" (All Music Guide) follow-up, then Champagne Downtown is both a worthy successor and a welcome evolution. Mixed by Grammy-winning engineer and audio guru Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam), it's a gorgeously layered showcase of the band's half-electronic-half-organic palette. Real drums mingle freely with their mechanical counterparts. Warm synths tangle with edgy, textured guitars. Brainy lyricism unfolds in a tandem of winsome melody and unabashed rock hooks. Peeking beneath and between these layers only serves to recall everything that's unique about this Minneapolis-based quartet, comprised of Diers (voice, keys, guitar), Bill Shaw (bass, sampler), Jacob Hanson (guitar) and David King (drums).

The extended gap between Champagne Downtown and Halloween, Alaska 's previous release was by no means a holiday. Veterans of the vaunted Minneapolis music scene, the group's members worked to complete the album amidst other projects (drummer King plays with modernist jazz giants The Bad Plus), long-distance collaborations and the arrival of new children. Founding keyboardist/engineer Ev left the proper lineup to focus on studio work, which led to the addition of guitarist Hanson and a subtle yet invigorating shift in the group's sonic footprint. The pace was slower, but the results are no less potent.

From the get-go, Champagne Downtown dares to cast off the political fixations of its native America, waxing instead on a collective psychology that pervades states of all hues. Lovers, losers and omniscient narrators alike cling dearly to a defiant, sometimes irrational optimism. The tender "Be A Man" doesn't just question the ideal of stoic manhood ("Kill a dog / Change a tire / Lead the way / Keep dying"); it demands that it be replaced by something more fluid, more universal. The title track finds a wayward spouse "drinking the remains on tops of taxis and underneath the trains." There are moments of inspired melancholy, too--see "Gone With the Wind" and its austere reflection: "Youth is not what it used to be / It's sewn into the sleeves of days we didn't seize."

Song for song, Champagne Downtown achieves the not-so-easy feat of being earnest without being saccharine, profound without being pretentious. As a result, you find yourself listening to the album for a fifth or fiftieth time and still discovering something new--a disarming lyric, a carefully crafted texture, an ebullient drum trill that pulses like a feathery heartbeat. It's the best-yet work of a band that knows it's giving listeners something valuable: depth, honesty, irreverence and beats you can move to in a shrinking, often superficial world.

For further information please contact Bobbie Gale:

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JANUARY 15, 2009

HALLOWEEN, ALASKA RETURN WITH

EAGERLY AWAITED THIRD ALBUM;

MINNESOTA-BASED COMBO JOINS WITH TCHAD BLAKE

TO CRAFT ITS MOST PROVOCATIVE WORK TO DATE;

"CHAMPAGNE DOWNTOWN" ARRIVES ON APRIL 7 TH

East Side Digital recording group Halloween, Alaska has announced the upcoming release of its much anticipated third album. "CHAMPAGNE DOWNTOWN" - the Minnesota-based band's first new music in more than three years - arrives in stores and at digital retailers on April 7 th .

Having earned widespread acclaim for its atmospheric brand of synth-driven indie, "CHAMPAGNE DOWNTOWN" sees Halloween, Alaska crafting its most distinctive and disarming set to date. Songs such as "In Order" and "Gone With The Wind" are complex and thoughtful, rich with simmering textures and literate lyricism. Melding an expansive range of inventive sounds with anthemic indie-rock hooks, "CHAMPAGNE DOWNTOWN" straddles the boundary between the electronic and the organic to create a novel rethink of what pop music can mean in a new millennium.

Halloween, Alaska is comprised of James Diers (voice, keyboards, guitar), Bill Shaw (bass, sampler), Jacob Hanson (guitar, keyboards, voice), and David King (acoustic and electronic drums) - the latter also serving as the enigmatic drummer with modernist jazz giants, The Bad Plus. Though founding keyboardist/programmer Ev has since left the official touring line-up, he remains on board for recording and assorted sound manipulation. "CHAMPAGNE DOWNTOWN" was recorded by Ev and mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, American Music Club, Latin Playboys).

Halloween, Alaska came together in 2002, encompassing members of such esteemed local outfits as Love-cars, 12RODS, and Happy Apple. The band self-released its eponymous debut in 2004, drawing critical praise and nationwide exposure when two tracks - "Des Moines" and "All The Arms Around You" - were featured on the Fox series, The O.C. Popular demand saw "HALLOWEEN, ALASKA" reissued the following year by East Side Digital, prompting a further flood of accolades.

"Halloween, Alaska's emotive verve and electro-organic poise is so accomplished, you'd think you'd got your hands on The Blue Nile's mislaid comeback album," declared MOJO in it four-starred rave. "Melancholy stains every measured note, but HA reside slap-bang in the heart of America's Midwest, and the atmosphere of low, distant horizons and isolation is palpable." "Mesmerizing stuff," hailed the Sunday Times , while the Twin Cities' own City Pages noted that "the album drowns the ears in alien lullabies, though Diers's candid lyrics about living-room clutter make everyday things just as song-worthy as these strange soundscapes...King combines his traditional drum kit with electronic pads that sound just as they should - beautifully artificial."

That same year also saw the release of Halloween, Alaska's sophomore outing, "TOO TALL TO HIDE." The album - which includes a striking rethink of LL Cool J's classic "I Can't Live Without My Radio" - also reaped copious critical hosannas. "Having laid out a defining blend of lush electronica and spare, somber emo-rock on its debut," wrote The Onion AV Club , "this time out the foursome explores the territory further - it's soaring and introspective by turns." "It displays all the charms of this band," affirmed Pulse , "sentimentality tempered by a wink and masterful musicianship uncluttered by virtuoso-style wankery."

CONTACT:

Bobbie Gale

BIG HASSLE MEDIA

310-204-0200

bobbie@bighassle.com