Blessed, purveyors of an anarchic and cerebral brand of roiling post-punk, has self-released two EPs, and toured relentlessly playing over 200 dates with artists like Preoccupations, The Courtneys, Chastity, and The Austerity Program. Now, they’ve announcing their long awaited debut LP, ‘Salt’. To coincide with the announcement, they’ve shared Disease via YouTube below.
Due out on April 5th, ‘Salt’ was recorded and mixed over three weeks in Montreal with producer Jace Lasek (Suuns, Wolf Parade, Land of Talk), and finds this already expansive group pushing the boundaries of their sound. Having incorporated a fifth member on guitar/keys, they explore the nuances only touched on in previous releases, with songs that range from short, staccato, punk-tinged flares to lengthy escapades that recall Deerhunter’s noise-rock freak-outs and Do Make Say Think’s lush cinematic passages.
‘Salt’ track list
1. Rolled In Glass
2. Thought
3. Purpose & Conviction
4. Zealot
5. Pill
6. Anchor
7. Disease
8. Caribou
Blessed’s ‘Salt‘ will be released April 5th. It’s available for preorder here.
In conversation with Paste the band reveal the typically meticulous process that went into the track’s creation.
“We had created two versions of the song while recording it, because we felt unsure of the direction we wanted to end up with,” the band tell Paste. “Everybody tracked this song twice, structurally the same but with very different aesthetic choices regarding the sound design. We happened to be in the same place at the same time as our friends The Avulsions at the time as well, so Josh stopped in to track a couple moments on this track. One was much safer, cleaner, and almost completely devoid of effects in any form. We mixed the album in the middle of a lengthy tour, swapping headphones in the back of the van and during downtime between soundchecking and bands starting. When we were ready to start mixing this track, Jace Lasek, who engineered our album, sent us this version. It was the first track on the record that we sent back with zero notes and felt needed nothing done. After spending so much time going back and forth while recording, we had gone too far into our own heads to realize one felt overbearingly better than the other.“
In support of ‘Salt’, Blessed will be touring extensively in 2019. Their first set of dates, which begin in March and will include a stop at SXSW are detailed below.
Tour dates
03/07 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Underground
03/08 Denver, CO @ Nude City Relief Center
03/09 Albuquerque, NM @ The Fly Honey Warehouse
03/10 Denton, TX @ TBA
03/13 – 03/16 Austin, TX @ SXSW
04/05 Abbotsford, BC @ Rugby Club
04/06 Vancouver, BC @ Red Gate
04/09 Calgary, AB @ The Palomino Smokehouse & Social Club
04/10 Lethbridge, AB @ The Slice
04/11 Edmonton, AB @ The Buckingham
04/12 Saskatoon, SK @ SK Indoor Skatepark
04/13 Winnipeg, MB @ The Handsome Daughter
04/15 Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
04/16 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry*
04/18 Iowa City, IA @ Iowa City Gabe’s (Downstairs)*
04/19 Madison, WI @ Art In*
04/20 Milwaukee, WI @ X Ray Arcade*
04/21 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean (Downstairs)
04/22 St. Louis, MO @ FOAM
04/23 Fayetteville, AR @ Backspace
04/25 Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr Collective
04/26 Lexington, KY @ Best Friend Bar
04/27 Cincinnati, OH @ The Comet
04/28 Pittsburgh, PA @ Black Forge
* w/ Tunic
