Shearwater – First MP3 from The Golden Archipelago, preorder, dossier, tour dates
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 am by Patrick
“The Golden Archipelago” is the third album in a triptych of mindblowingly beautiful, dense and ambitious excursions about man’s impact on the natural world from Austin’s SHEARWATER.
This time singer-songwriter Jonathan Meiburg turns his attention to life on islands – a world of lushness and austerity, silence and sudden cataclysms. From rising sea levels to displaced populations, Meiburg travels from the Falklands to Madgascar, from the Bikini Atoll to the Tierra Del Fuego.
The music matches the grandeur and melancholy of its subject matter. This is a true album in the larger sense of the word. Meiburg’s soaring vocals and complex song structures recall opuses like Kate Bush’s “Hounds Of Love,” Hüsker Dü’s “Zen Arcade” and classic Pink Floyd.
The CD comes packaged with a 50-page perfect-bound book that is a set of extracts from a dossier of records, photos, regulations and images collected by Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg. The LP contains 2 bonus tracks & an MP3 download coupon (that includes the album + PDF of the dossier). (Note: LP pre-orders will ALSO receive a copy of the CD-sized perfect bound book.)
Serious researchers will have a way to obtain the actual, full-sized, full-color 73-page dossier in its special envelope – this will be announced soon, so keep your eyes on this space.
Preorder the album, and get a 15% discount plus the extras noted above.
Below is the first MP3 from The Golden Archipelago, “Castaways.” You can just play the MP3, or you can download a zip file containing either a 256K MP3 or a FLAC of the track, along with a digital single artwork and some images from book extracts of the dossier:
Castaways (192k mp3)
Castaways (zipfile of 256k mp3, single artwork, dossier pages)
Castaways (zipfile of FLAC, single artwork, dossier pages)
Shearwater will be touring Europe and the US the spring. US dates still to be announced; European dates are as follows:
17 Feb: Melkweg – Amsterdam (NL)
18 Feb: Botanique – Brussel (B)
19 Feb: Le Nouveau Casino – Paris (F)
20 Feb: La Route du Rock winter edition @ L’Omnibus – Saint-Malô (F)
21 Feb: The Freebutt – Brighton (UK)
22 Feb: The Brudenell Social Club – Leeds (UK)
23 Feb: Captains Rest – Glasgow (UK)
25 Feb: Scala – London (UK)
26 Feb: 4AD – Diksmuide (B)
27 Feb: Knust – Hamburg (D)
28 Feb: Magnet club – Berlin (D)
2 Mar: Rote Sonne – Munich (D)
3 Mar: L’Usine (PTR) – Geneva (CH)
4 Mar: Nouveau Monde – Fribourg (CH)
5 Mar: La Casa 139 – Milan (I)
shearwatermusic.com
matadorrecords.com/shearwater
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:56 am
Song links are broken.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:59 am
Bummer, the song isnt working in either format.
Can’t wait for this album.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:15 am
Sorry about that – should be fixed now.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 am
Exactly what I needed this morning. That pre-order sounds amazing as well!
Thanks guys,
S.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:45 am
Downloads are fixed now.
FLAC zipfile coming shortly… we promise.
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Can’t wait, the song is great. Please release the bonus songs as FLAC downloads for those of us without turntables.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Extremely excited and about to preorder. Is the dossier a separate item or does it come with the LP preorder?
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
The CD-sized book of extracts from the dossier comes with the LP preorder. The full dossier is a separate item.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Can’t wait for Leeds, Brudenell again!
Its gonna be immense.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 am
And again, no concert in the beautiful city of Vienna
December 7th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
The SW site is the best source for tour dates…some are still being added to the EU tour, inc Barcelona, Madrid, Manchester.
http://www.shearwatermusic.com
December 10th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Will the bonus tracks from the LP version be included in the download as well?
December 12th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Yes.
December 31st, 2009 at 6:40 am
do all copies of the CD version come with the 50 page book? or just initial copies? (not just those bought from matador webstore).
December 31st, 2009 at 11:49 am
The first 5K copies of the CD will come with the 50-page book.
January 4th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Hope, I’ll still get one with the booklet.
And western Germany does come a little short in the tour. Maybe some Cologne gig in the future?
January 5th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
You know, you’ll get a great reception in Belfast if you come and bring your instruments.
Can’t wait til your album is out.
January 13th, 2010 at 10:14 am
NO SWEDEN DATES THIS TIME? BUMMER
January 15th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Will Copenhagen i.e. Denmark sadly be ignored once again!?
October 2nd, 2010 at 12:29 am
The Golden Archipelago is one of the most atmospheric albums i’ve heard in quite some time. These guys have really nailed the feeling and emotion. You gotta setup some tour dates in the Los Angeles, CA area… you will have a huge following!