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Alberta Cross will release their highly anticipated sophomore album, Songs of Patience, on ATO Records on July 17th, 2012. Additionally, the band will hit the road for the first live dates in support of Songs for Patience, kicking off in New York City on June 24th as part of this year’s Governor’s Ball Music Festival on Randall’s Island. Alberta Cross will also be touring with Everest starting on July 5th in Chicago for a run of summer dates. Tickets for these shows go on sale Friday, May 18th. All tour dates are listed below.
The title of Alberta Cross’ new album, Songs of Patience, is, in many ways, literal. After touring extensively behind their debut 2009, Broken Side Of Time, with bands like Them Crooked Vultures, Oasis, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and stopping at festivals like Bonnaroo and Sasquatch, Alberta Cross headed to an old, abandoned house in the middle of nowhere near Woodstock, NY. There, they braved the freezing winter and embraced a sense of the building’s haunted past to envision ideas for a new record.
The Woodstock session opened the doors to craft the songs that would appear on Songs of Patience (ATO Records), but the group needed more inspiration. For core band members Petter Ericson Stakee (vocals/guitar) and Terry Wolfers (bass), the album they knew they could make was seemingly just out of their grasp. Ericson Stakee moved from New York City to Los Angeles in search of a new perspective, but when the rest of the band joined him in early 2011, the songs they knew would propel them forward remained elusive. Alberta Cross had a finished album that just didn’t feel right; so, they did what many great artists have done to move forward – they went backwards.
This, of course, meant that Ericson Stakee and Wolfers had to find their way back to what inspired Alberta Cross in the first place, which resulted in pairing down the Alberta Cross lineup to its original incarnation as a two-piece, in addition to stepping away from what they had created in order to look it in the face. This allowed them to admit that it needed revision, a step that ultimately allowed them to open up their creativity, pen additional tracks and re-mix/re-track a few songs from the L.A. sessions once they’d returned to New York. There, they laid down new songs, rounding out the original album to be an expansive, thoughtful portrait of their experiences. The result is one of the finest, most visceral rock albums of 2012.
Ultimately, Songs of Patience is both a throwback to Alberta Cross’ roots and a progression forward. It’s a record that is as soulful as it is driven. The album veers from the melodic sprawl of opener “Magnolia” to the pensive provocation of “Lay Down,” a song bolstered by crashing guitars and one of the record’s most thrilling choruses. “Wasteland” is a hook-laden, no-holds-barred rocker showcasing Ericson Stakee’s voice at its best, while “Crate of Gold” explores the motivations of the Occupy movement in all of its fuzzed-out, bass-driven glory. Indeed, Songs of Patience is the sum of three years’ worth of parts – a struggle that concluded in one hell of an album, and a brilliant new chapter in the musical journey of Alberta Cross.
Songs of Patience track listing:
1. Magnolia
2. Create Of Gold
3. Lay Down
4. Come on Maker
5. Ophelia On My Mind
6. Wasteland
7. I Believe In Everything
8. Life Without Warning
9. Money For The Weekend (Pocket Full of Shame)
10. Bonfires
Tour dates:
6/24/12 New York, NY @ Randall’s Island (Governor’s Ball Music Festival)
7/3/12 Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
7/5/12 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
7/6/12 Columbus, OH @ The Basement*
7/7/12 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot – Pike Room*
7/9/12 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall*
7/10/12 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas*
7/12/12 Washington, DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel*
7/14/12 Cincinnati, OH @ Sawyer Point Park (Bunbury Music Festival)
7/16/12 Nashville, TN @ The High Watt*
7/17/12 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway*
7/19/12 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge*
7/22/12 San Diego, CA @ Casbah*
7/24/12 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour*
7/25/12 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent*
7/27/12 Portland, OR @ Peter’s Room*
7/28/12 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile*
7/29/12 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club*
*with Everest
