Shakey Graves has announced a new album, Fondness, Etc., due May 15th via Secret Identity / Dualtone Records, alongside a new single Time Flies — a string-laden cover of a song by Frankie Sunswept that Graves has carried with him for nearly two decades.
The track features a lush string quartet arranged by David J. Pierce and a guitar solo from Zeke Jarmon of Batty Jr., lending a cinematic warmth to what began as a wistful folk song Graves first encountered in a New York City club in 2007.
“I had a vision of making this album feel like a sort of zero-budget Roy Orbison ’50s pop record, and with such a small window to write, record, and release an entire album, I figured I should do what the pros would do and sneak in a cover song written by an old friend. I first heard [Frankie Sunswept] play ‘Time Flies’ in like 2007 at the Sidewalk Cafe in Alphabet City and have been singing the tune to myself nonstop since. I knew it was going to be a perfect fit for this project and finally made a version of it the way it would play on the radio in my head.”
Fondness, Etc. is a nine-track album that wrestles with the quiet grief and gratitude of growing up — the tension between holding onto who you’ve been and making room for who you’re becoming. Produced by Graves and captured on a pair of Tascam tape machines during a focused one-month stretch in his home studio, the album was shaped with the help of assorted musical artefacts, including a possibly haunted 1932 Gibson guitar that survived a bunker fire in World War II. Graves plays guitar, drums, synth, and Optigan throughout.
A US tour kicks off June 4th in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with UK dates also confirmed.
Pre-Order: https://shakeygraves.komi.io/
UK DATES:
Aug 30 Sun – Leicestershire, UK – The Long Road Festival
Sep 1 Tue – Glasgow, Scotland – QMU
Sep 2 Wed – Manchester, UK – Manchester Club Academy
Sep 3 Thu – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall