The A's Reimagine "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy," New Single Out Now on Psychic Hotline
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Days before beginning their first-ever tour as The A's, Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath and Daughter of Swords' Alexandra Sauser-Monnig have released a serene and ruminative rendition of the stoner country classic, "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy." The single arrives on the heels of the duo's debut album Fruit, which saw the two longtime friends and Mountain Man bandmates strike "a perfect balance between inquisitive and comforting" (NPR Music). Similar to their take on "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy," or their fantastical reimagining of Harry Nilsson and Shelley Duvall's "He Needs Me," Fruit featured new interpretations of traditional folk music, lullabies, cosmic cowboy songs and multiple standards about ponies, each song uniquely filled with arrangements of high lonesome harmonies, stunt yodeling and a ghost orchestra of hair, nylon shorts, shoes, ice chunk, gravel, frog samples and other makeshift instruments.
Listen to "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy," Out Now on Psychic Hotline:
While Amelia Meath and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig have been yodeling together for upwards of 15 years, it wasn't until summer of 2021 that they thought seriously about making Fruit. For two weeks they decamped to Sylvan Esso's Chapel Hill studio, Betty's, where they recorded under the candle-lit night. Produced by Meath, Sauser-Monnig and Nick Sanborn (Sylvan Esso, Made of Oak), Fruit also features backing vocals from Fruit engineer and mixer Alli Rogers, string arrangements from Gabriel Kahane, saxophone from Sam Gendel, guitar from Alan Good Parker, and vocals from Jenn Wasner (Flock of Dimes, Wye Oak) on "When I Die," the original, Meath-written song that The New York Times praised as "morbid but practical, and ultimately affectionate." On the album's tracklist, Sauser-Monnig explains, "If it doesn't make you cackle or cry, it doesn't belong" - learn more about Fruit's creation in a conversation with NPR Weekend Edition.
Following a wonderfully weird and whimsical performance at Newport Folk Festival this summer, The A's will return to the stage this weekend, at the second annual Psychic Hotline Block Party, alongside artists and friends like Arooj Aftab, Bartees Strange, GRRL x Made of Oak, Hand Habits, Indigo De Souza, Lambchop and more in Carrboro, NC. Then the duo kicks off a run of 17 shows with Marcus Mumford, including stops at NYC's Beacon Theatre, The Chicago Theatre, Durham Performing Arts Center and more. Find the full list of tour dates below, with tickets and more information at the-as.net.
The A's Tour Dates
10/15 - Carrboro, NC - Psychic Hotline Block Party
10/17 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom*
10/18 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre*
10/20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Pabst Theater*
10/21 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee*
10/22 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre*
10/24 - Chicago, IL - The Chicago Theatre*
10/25 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit*
10/26 - Louisville, KY - Brown Theatre*
10/28 - Durham, NC - DPAC*
10/29 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern*
11/1 - Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium*
11/2 - Washington, DC - The Anthem*
11/3 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met*
11/5 - Portland, ME - State Theatre*
11/7 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre*
11/8 - Boston, MA - The Wang Theatre*
11/10 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall*
*w/ Marcus Mumford
Praise For Fruit
"'When I Die' is morbid but practical, and ultimately affectionate…Singing close harmony in what could almost be a nursery-rhyme melody, they add percussion and synthesizer bass lines over what sounds like marching feet. And they calmly provide instructions for a memorial — loud music, flowers, dancing, toasts and a funeral pyre 'to light your way back home'"
The New York Times
"The two singers harmonize as if they are in your ears, backed by a judicious sprinkling of keys and kooky strings that strike a perfect balance between inquisitive and comforting. There's something here for almost anyone, and you'll be charmed before you know it"
NPR Music
"It's quite pretty, quite beautiful, it really kind of lures you in"
The Needle Drop
"There are moments of sweet folk harmonic bliss throughout, and complex yodeling that will make your head spin, but the lightness is shot through with enough darkness or weirdness to prevent Fruit from ever feeling saccharine"
Vinyl Me, Please
"It's weird, it's fun, it feels simultaneously from this moment and from another world…To say it's enchanting is an understatement"
Consequence of Sound
"The A's continue that love of twisting traditional folk music with new original sounds"
NPR's All Songs Considered
"Somehow weird, whimsical and sincere all at once"
WNYC
"The A's channel early folk's whimsy and wonder"
Indy Week
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