 | The Shondes My Dear One (CD) |
Bio:
Heartbreak sucks.
In September 2008, The Shondes left Brooklyn to kick off their third national tour in support of The Red Sea, the band’s debut album released earlier that year. They played to audiences across the country, ate (and, of course, blogged about) amazing food, and debuted new songs to excited fans and generous press.
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Media Links & Downloads:
"My Dear One" Album Trailer (VIDEO)
"Make It Beautiful" Single Trailer (VIDEO)
Hi-Res Photos:
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Hi-Res Cover Art:
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On The Web:
www.shondes.com
www.facebook.com/theshondes
www.myspace.com/theshondes
www.fanaticrecords.com
www.facebook.com/fanaticrecords
Bio (Continued):
But then the tour ended suddenly with the unexpected departure of their guitarist in Miami. The rest of the band had to drive the 1300 miles back to Brooklyn and scramble for jobs in a recession while singer and bassist Louisa Solomon fought to survive her devastating heartbreak.
Back home after the tour’s sudden end, the members of The Shondes tried to remind themselves to do what everyone has to do: find ways to work through losing a bandmate, partner, and friend. They cheered themselves up by going to Coney Island late at night, eating soup, spumoni, and donuts, and watching copious amounts of “Golden Girls” and “Roseanne.” But most of all, they buried themselves in their songwriting. By October 2009, exactly a year since that fateful tour ended in “Miami” (also a tune on the new album), The Shondes recorded the songs that comprise their second full-length record My Dear One, to be released May 4, 2010 on Fanatic Records.
In addition to making political art and melding influences as disparate as classical and traditional Jewish music and punk rock, The Shondes work for justice on many public levels, including in queer communities and as Jews fighting for a free Palestine. But My Dear One is a more personal reminder that those who fight for what they feel passionately about still suffer heartbreak and require the intimacy of community and art to recover. Both as individuals and as The Shondes, Louisa Solomon (bass, lead vocals), Elijah Oberman (violin), Temim Fruchter (drums) and Fureigh (guitar) have always chosen to explore this duality, to attempt the impossible, or at least, the inadvisable. “Shonde” is the Yiddish word for disgrace, after all.
While My Dear One explores heartbreak in depth, the songs also explore questions about how each of us deserves to be treated and how we should treat each other. During the writing of My Dear One, the band sought comfort in their craft, and in one another, working closely at ungodly hours of the night. Days blended into one another with the band gathered around Louisa at the piano, marathon post-work meetings, 3AM writing sessions, and, of course, composing the lyrics to “Make It Beautiful” while bemoaning the constant injuries of the New York Mets.
Somewhere in there they had to find a new guitarist, and they found Fureigh. Or Fureigh found them. And somehow Fureigh wasn’t scared away by the longest ever list of requirements that appeared in their plea for a new guitarist. This kind of attention to detail colors the intense heartbreak narrative of My Dear One and is evident not only in the music, but it also in the album's artwork with the cover situating the listener in the moment right after something life-changing has happened, complete with the varied responses of loved ones, the solace sought in friends and familiar rooms and places, and the shrouded mystery of what comes next. For The Shondes, “next” means another tour of their explosively energetic and emotional live show and the release of My Dear One, an album for survivors of broken hearts.
My Dear One Track Listing:
01. My Dear One
02. Fire Again
03. Lines and Hooks
04. Nothing Glows
05. Get Out
06. The Coming Night
07. Miami
08. Gather Up Your Prayers
09. You Ought To Be Ashamed
10. All The Good Things
11. Make It Beautiful
12. Twilight
Press Quotes:
"The Shondes are a twisted carnival film noir come true." – CMJ
"When these four take the ideology to the amps, things fall in line..." – SPIN
"Old-world romance elegantly intertwined with riot grrrl piss + vinegar..." – VENUS
On The Web:
www.shondes.com
www.facebook.com/theshondes
www.myspace.com/theshondes
www.fanaticrecords.com
www.facebook.com/fanaticrecords