Death Song (vinyl 2LP)

The Black Angels - Austin's psych rock masters with their first full-length release in four years. Written and recorded in large part during the recent election cycle, the music on 'Death Song' serves as part protest, part emotional catharsis in a climate dominated by division, anxiety and unease. "Currency," a strong contender for the heaviest song the band has ever put to wax, meditates on the governing role the monetary system plays in our lives, while slow-building psychedelic earworm "Half Believing" questions the nature and confusing realities of devotion. Recorded between Seattle and Austin, 'Death Song' features production from Phil Ek (Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes, The Shins). The 11-track collection offers a sharply honed elaboration on their signature sound - menacing fuzz guitar and cutting wordplay, steeped in a murky hallucinatory dream. Since forming in Austin in 2004, The Black Angels have become standard-bearers for modern psych-rock, and the New York Times has said they "play psychedelic rock as if the 1960s never ended, and they are absolute masters of it". The band has toured with Queens of the Stone Age, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Black Keys + more, and played festivals such as Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, Primavera, Harvest Fest, Coachella and Bonnaroo. Two of the band members co-founded Levitation Festival (formerly Austin Psych Fest) in 2008, which has since grown into one of the best-reviewed and expertly-curated festivals in the country.