Brooklyn-based indie electronic band have held a very special place in my heart (and music library) since I first saw them at SXSW in 2013. They were one of the first bands I saw at my first South By Southwest experience, and I fell in love with the group as they played new music from their then-upcoming release Limits of Desire. That album proved to be one of the highlights of 2013, and the group is back this year, recently releasing Best Blues on October 15th, the follow up to Limits of Desire, via Jagjaguwar.
The group has shared the brand new video for on of Best Blues‘s standout tracks, “No One Wants It To Happen To You”, a song that captures the raw emotion of the album, a work that centers around loss; the band’s frontman Josh Hayden Kolenik’s family home in Long Island was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, washing many possessions away as it passed through the East Coast in 2012. Kolenik and family were left sifting through old photographs, trying to decipher meaning in the memories that were left damaged by the wake of the powerful storm. In fact, the album’s faded cover image of a woman walking alone in sand dunes was one of the photographs that was recovered from the storm, revitalized by a hair dryer and fireplace. Nevertheless, the image may have been saved but the meaning was lost, as even the image’s photographer, Kolenik’s father, was not able to retrace context to the picture. So Best Blues is not only about loss in its most straightforward form of person-to-person loss, but also the loss of memories and meaning that every person experiences throughout their lives.
The group has shared a brand new video for one of Best Blues‘s standout tracks, “No One Wants It To Happen To You”, a song that not only captures the raw emotions of the album, but also finds the band in their most appealing form. Small Black excels at everything “No One Wants It To Happen To You” delivers: emotional and compassionate electronic music.
Small Black’s latest album Best Blues is available now via Jagjaguwar, and the group is currently touring the United States until late November, wrapping up in their home of Brooklyn on November 21st – tour dates below and tickets available via the band’s website.
SMALL BLACK TOUR DATES
10/20 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar *
10/21 – San Diego, CA – Casbah *
10/23 – Los Angeles, CA – Roxy Theatre *
10/26 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge *
10/27 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Biltmore Cabaret *
10/28 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile *
10/29 – Boise, ID – Neurolux *
10/30 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *
10/31 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge *
11/02 – Kansas City, MO – The Tank Room *
11/03 – Iowa City, IA – The Mill *
11/04 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St Entry *
11/06 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall *
11/07 – Detroit, MI – UFO Factory *
11/08 – Toronto, Ontario – The Garrison *
11/10 – Montreal, Quebec – La Sala Rossa *
11/11 – Burlington, VT – Signal Kitchen *
11/12 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall *
11/21 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
* w/ Painted Palms
