When Jessica spoke with John Vanderslice about his upcoming seventh album Romanian Names, he told her:
A lot of songs are about the difficulty of being in love, and the difficulty of being in a relationship … When you’re in a very, very close relationship, there’s a mirror in front of you all the time. So a lot of the songs, for me, are about that mirrored self and that almost suffocating thing that happens.
He also mentioned his Romanian plan had been to write “a bunch of shorter, faster songs that were all about melody lines.” While “Fetal Horses” is (very) clearly about the sadder moments in relationships and their aftermaths (stealing one lover from another, etc.), it’s the longest of the album’s 12 tracks … and one of the slowest and most melancholy. It’s also one of the best. (Well, the Elliott Smith-redolent “Oblivion”‘s is nice, too, and it’s also rather slow.) Take a look at the blue-sky album art while you go “Fetal.”
The Names:
01 “Tremble And Tear”
02 “Fetal Horses”
03 “C&O Canal”
04 “Too Much Time”
05 “D.I.A.L.O.”
06 “Forest Knolls”
07 “Oblivion”
08 “Sunken Union Boat”
09 “Romanian Names”
10 “Carina Constellation”
11 “Summer Stock”
12 “Hard Times”
Romanian Names is out 5/19 via Dead Oceans. This is the live itinerary, for now. More dates will be announced soon.
05/17 – Merced, CA @ The Partisan
05/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Rickshaw
05/21 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
05/22 – Seattle, WA @ Easy Street
05/24 – George, WA @ Sasquatch!
05/27 – Provo, UT @ Velour
05/28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
05/29 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
05/30 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Jr
06/06 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
06/09 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Warhol Museum
06/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williambsurg
[Photo of John by Autumn de Wilde
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nicest guy in music, methinks.
You have no idea what dark and terrible things JV does while you are sleeping.
oh I’m aware. the gift that keeps on cumming.
I agree. I saw him last year at the middle east upstairs. He manned his own merch table before the show. He talked to me and my friends for at least twenty minutes. Was down to earth and nothing but pleasant. He was even extremely humble when we brought up the show we saw in which sufjan stevens opened for him (He said he had great memories of the tour and how amazing it was to have someone he admires so much open for him.) And then he gave us vegan cupcakes. Just a great guy.
deffinitely
great song! people, go see him on tour, and bring all your friends.
seeing him and the mountain goats tonight. i’m pumped.
Great musician & a very nice guy. His band is always top notch, too.
i was immediately reminded of clone high upon reading the name of the song.
I am so excited for this release. John is an amazing musician.
Awesome guy.
beautiful album art
ok, i am a big john vanderslice fan. but fetal horses is one of the weaker songs on the album. i wish bands would start releasing the right singles. i mean c & o canal, carina constellation, too much time, or sunken union boat would have been better fits.
but overall, amazing album! i hope he comes to canada sometime soon.
