Barsuk Records is excited to announce that Maps & Atlases will release their sophomore full-length Beware and Be Grateful on April 17th. Rolling Stone premiered the track, saying "[‘Winter’] finds the band merging tuneful songcraft with tight, dense rhythms."
The album – which follows the Chicago-based band’s acclaimed 2010 debut, Perch Patchwork – was recorded last year in a series of week-long sessions at Omaha’s ARC Studios with producer Jason Cupp (Nurses, Good Old War) once again behind the board.
As ever, Maps & Atlases defy easy categorization, choosing to walk their own incomparable musical path. Beware and Be Grateful sees M&A’s trademark experimentalism morphing to suit a more direct – though no less beguiling – songcraft. Fueled by a panoply of sonic influences, the album abounds with novel invention, spanning hymnal harmonies, percolating rhythms, even, in the case of centerpiece track, "Silver Self," a full-on guitar solo (though to be fair, it’s unlike any solo previously committed to wax). Songs like "Remote And Dark Years" and "Fever" are gloriously liquid and lyrical, channeling M&A’s tightly constructed creativity into a genuinely distinctive brand of boundary-busting, asymmetrical pop. Self-assured and astonishingly ambitious, Beware and Be Grateful is Maps & Atlases’ finest, most fully-realized collection to date.
Since their formation in 2004, Maps & Atlases have captured the indie imagination with their extraordinarily artful amalgamation of polyrhythmic beats, elaborate melodies, and post-rock ingenuity. The band toured hard from the get-go, honing their kinetic time signatures and inventive energy through countless live shows as both headliner and alongside such artists as Broken Bells, Frightened Rabbit, Circa Survive, Cults, and RX Bandits. A major North American tour in support of Beware and Be Grateful will be announced shortly.
Maps & Atlases On Tour
3/8 Bloomington, IN – The Bishop
3/9 Nashville, TN – The Mercy
3/10 New Orleans, LA – Foburg Festival
3/14 – 3/17 Austin, TX – SXSW 2012
3/18 Dallas, TX – Bro Fest
3/19 Hot Springs, AR – Valley of the Vapors Festival
3/22 Memphis, TN – Fareveller Festival
3/31 Bethelem, PA – NOWADAYS Festival
4/16 Bristol, UK – Cooler
4/17 London, UK – Garage
4/18 Manchester, UK – Night and Day
4/19 Glasgow, UK – Nice n Sleazys
4/20 Leeds, UK – Brudenell
4/22 Brussels, Belgium – Botanique
4/23 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
4/24 Cologne, Germany – Gebaude 9
4/25 Hamburg, Germany – haus III&70
4/26 Berlin, Germany – Bi Nuu
4/27 Frankfurt, Germany – Das Bett
4/28 Paris, France – Fleche D’or
Maps & Atlases Beware and Be Grateful Tracklisting:
1. Old & Gray
2. Fever
3. Winter
4. Remote & Dark Years
5. Silver Self
6. Vampires
7. Be Three Years Old
8. Bugs
9. Old Ash
10. Important
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