Mister Heavenly — the trio of Ryan Kattner (Man Man), Nicholas Thorburn (Islands, The Unicorns) and Joe Plummer (Cold War Kids, Modest Mouse, The Shins) — is proud to announce their sophomore album Boxing The Moonlight, due October 6, 2017 via Polyvinyl Record Co. To ring in the announcement, the band has shared album opener “Beat Down” and can be heard/seen below…
Mister Heavenly dabbled in love and affection on their first record, 2011’s Out of Love (Sub Pop). This time, however, the band is in a scrappy mood as they embrace a tougher sound on their new album, Boxing the Moonlight.
“It seemed like it was a good idea to pivot from the subject matter of the first record,” Thorburn says. “That was maybe a more emotional thing, and I think this record is much more physical.”
The physicality is evident right from the start, in the hammering piano and terse rhythm that fuel opener “Beat Down,” or in the buzzing chaos on “Dead Duck,” a psych-heavy freakout that evokes the Monks. The experimental ’60s garage-rockers aren’t the only musical reference point on Boxing the Moonlight. Seventies Krautrock band Faust was a big influence while the songs were being written, as was the sound of hip-hop production in the late ’80s and early ’90s, which informed the deep groove of “Hammer Drop” and the spacious guitar sound on “Magic Is Gone.” Meanwhile, “Crazy Love, Vol. III,” is a smooth jam with an ulterior motive.
“My only hope is that ‘Crazy Love’ can be somebody’s wedding song,” Kattner says. “But the bride has a shiv hidden in her dress.”
If it sounds eclectic, that’s no coincidence, though Mister Heavenly’s knack for catchy hooks ensures that it all hangs together with remarkable cohesion. “I personally hate albums where every song sounds the same,” Kattner says. “It all makes sense in the grand scheme of things. People are complicated. People have a lot of different vibes running through them at any given moment.”
If people are complicated, so was making Boxing the Moonlight.
Kattner and Thorburn started Mister Heavenly in 2010 as a chance to collaborate for the sheer fun of it, and they soon invited Plummer to join them. After releasing Out of Love in 2011, the band started work on their second album, snatching a few days at a time whenever their cluttered schedules allowed: Kattner is also known as Man Man visionary Honus Honus, Thorburn was busy with his bands Islands and the Unicorns (both now dormant), and Plummer plays with Cold War Kids and has worked with Modest Mouse and the Shins
Boxing The Moonlight tracklist:
- Beat Down
- Blue Lines
- Makin’ Excuses
- Hammer Drop
- George’s Garden
- No Floor
- Magic Is Gone
- Pink Cloud Compression
- Crazy Love, Vol. III
- Dead Duck
- Out Of Time
Mister Heavenly tour dates:
10/20 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah #
10/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Resident #
10/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall #
10/24 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge #
10/25 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza #
11/02 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
11/03 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
11/04 – Providence, RI @ Alchemy
11/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
11/06 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
11/08 – Toronto, ON @ Drake Hotel
11/09 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
11/11 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
