Parsonsfield Find Joy In Synths, Loops And Warped Pianos On New Album Happy Hour On The Floor Out April 3 On Signature Sounds
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(New York, NY): Parsonsfield - New England’s beloved creators of “the most jubilant and danceable indie roots music this side of the Carolinas” (NPR Music) - will embark on a new era of their career with the April 3 release of Happy Hour on the Floor, their new LP out on Signature Sounds. Produced by Benjamin Lazar Davis (Okkervil River, Joan As Police Woman). Known for their rustic and stirring sounds and warm harmonies, the four-piece rockers now add dreamy synthesizers, hypnotizing loops, warped pianos (borrowed from a band member’s childhood home), melodic fuzz, and vintage drum machines to make upbeat American music that’s more groovy and danceable than any of their previous work.
Happy Hour on the Floor opens with “Paper Floor,” a love story between two striving young professionals who come together in New York City. When money and social status become the foundation of their relationship, it’s like living in a high rise apartment with the titular ‘paper floor.’ Watch the band play intricate paper instruments in the music video on WNYC’s New Sounds: https://www.newsounds.org/story/weekly-music-roundup-grammys-debrief-katie-gately-and-mitski
The rest of Happy Hour on the Floor tells similarly vivid tales, with a wide range of sounds. The finger-picking “Til I Die” interweaves bells with Celtic strings, distortion, and pounding drums, while an ecstatic bass ukulele kicks off the driving “Now That You’re Gone” and adds synths and electric drums. These songs tell multiple stories sharing one tale: how we learn to lean into each other. The “happy hour on the floor” is that time drinking wine out of paper cups with your loved ones; it’s that hour of joy that, if we look for it, can be found everywhere.
Parsonsfield knows this struggle between “what we want” and “want we have” well. After forming in college as a band of musical outsiders - too rock for folk, too folk for punk, too punk for bluegrass - this new record follows a period of uncertainty for each member: new cities, new relationships, new responsibilities. With the departure of their longtime bass player, the five-piece reformed as four, and moved to the outskirts of Boston, hunkering down for a few weeks in a farmhouse in the summer heat to record new music. The result is their most adventurous project yet.
Right after the release of Happy Hour on the Floor, Parsonsfield will tour extensively, bringing music that’s “boisterously youthful yet deftly sentimental” (New York Times) to some of their biggest venues to date. The band has previously toured with Josh Ritter, The Jayhawks, Mandolin Orange, The New Pornographers, and more.
Parsonsfield:
Chris Freeman: Lead vocals, Guitar
Antonio Alcorn: Mandolin, Banjo
Max Shakun: Guitar, Keys
Erik Hischmann: Drums
Happy Hour on the Floor Tracklist:
Paper Floor
Til I Die
River Town
Now That You’re Gone
Running River
Oh My Man
Reykjavik Connection
Emery
Horizon Line
Sweet Dream
Parsonsfield Tour Dates:
4.16 Fall River MA @ Narrows Center for the Arts
4.17 Philadelphia PA @ MilkBoy
4.18 Washington DC @ Songbyrd
4.19 Richmond VA @ Richmond Music Hall
4.22 Nashville TN @ The High Watt
4.23 Bloomington IN @ The Bishop
4.24 Cleveland OH @ Beachland Tavern
4.25 Columbus OH @ Rumba Café
4.26 Evanston IL @ SPACE
4.27 Ann Arbor MI @ The Ark
4.29 Toronto ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
4.30 Buffalo NY @ Ninth Ward
5.01 Turners Falls MA @ Shea Theater
5.02 Hartford CT @ Infinity Hall Hartford
5.06 New York NY @ Mercury Lounge
5.07 Portland ME @ Port City Music Hall^
5.08 Burlington VT @ ArtsRiot
5.09 Cambridge MA @ The Sinclair
^Oshima Brothers support on all dates except Portland.
Parsonsfield On The Web:
Website: http://www.parsonsfield.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Parsonsfield/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parsonsfield/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/parsonsfield