Transatlantic duo Sons of Town Hall has excitedly announced the long-awaited release of their sophomore album, Of Ghosts and Gods, due out 6 March.
Nearly a decade ago in a London pub, acclaimed singer-songwriters Ben Parker (Ben & Jason) and David Berkeley dreamt up this unusually beguiling project, which has resulted in an explosion of imagination, irreverent humour and a bewitching vocal blend.
Their new album showcases Parker and Berkeley at their creative and musical peak: It’s part folk record, part storytelling adventure that evokes Tom Waits-like lyricism and Everly Brothers-style harmonies.
Of Ghosts and Gods not only takes you on a story-driven reverie, but also a sonically stunning journey – from atmospheric strings arranged by Will Robertson, to horns played by Jordan Katz (De La Soul, Father John Misty, Macy Gray) and the fabulous imaginative textures of percussionist and drummer Mathias Kunzli (Regina Spektor). The track In My Arms Once More features Grammy-winning Sara Watkins (I’m With Her and Nickel Creek).
Sons of Town Hall have crafted an elaborate fictional world to frame the album. In it lie two characters, Josiah Chester Jones (Berkeley) and George Ulysses Brown (Parker), who travel the world together on a self-built mythical raft. Dressed in Victorian-era outfits and armed with beautifully aged Gibson guitars, their live performances are no ordinary concerts, but theatrical, immersive events that combine music, humour and a lot of storytelling, a bit like if Monty Python could sing like Simon & Garfunkel. “The costumes, in the end, somehow enable us to be more ourselves,” Parker explains. Berkeley adds, “We are characters in a fiction we’ve dreamed up and re-create with our audiences every night. Given the woes of today’s world, it feels more important than ever to collectively imagine something better.”
Expanding the album’s universe, the duo has launched the Madmen Cross the Water podcast. Hosted by fictional superfan and self-appointed band archivist, Elias B. Worthington (played by British actor Oliver Maltman), each episode in the first season tells the adventures behind the songs on the new album. Harkening back to radio theatre of old, Madmen is a globe-spanning travelogue featuring sound effects, a lush original score, and a script that is at once hilarious and heartfelt.
UPCOMING SINGLE RELEASES
18 February – SIRENS
4 March – ANTARCTICA
Of Ghosts and Gods Tracklisting (with corresponding music videos)1. Gods2. How to Build at Boat3. Wild Winds4. The Lion’s Paw5. Whalebone6. The Rocky Shores of England7. Sirens – RELEASE 18 FEB8. Antarctica – RELEASE 4 MARCH9. New Orleans10. Mutiny11. In My Arms Once More12. Ghosts (Instrumental)
Sons of Town Hall is currently on a release tour in the U.S.A. and will return to England for a run of dates in June. Please see below for full list of dates or find them on their website.
FULL LIST OF USA DATES:18 Feb – Eddie’s Attic – Decatur, GA20 Feb – The Green Room @ Crosstown Arts – Memphis, TN22 Feb – The Mansion At Strathmore – North Bethesda, MD24 Feb – City Windery’s City Vineyard – New York, NY25 Feb – The Kate – Old Saybrook, CT26 Feb – Colonia Theatre’s BNH Stage – Concord, NH27 Feb – Spruce Peak Performing Arts Centre – Stowe, VT28 Feb – Studio9 at The Porches – North Adams, MA1 Mar – Peabody Essex Museum – Salem, MA3 Mar – Club Passim – Cambridge, MA4 Mar – The Music Hall Lounge – Portsmith, NH7 Mar – Purple Fiddle – Thomas, WV8 Mar – Mountain Stage – Charleston, WV
FULL LIST OF UK DATES:11 Jun – Caroline Street Social Club – Shipley14 June – Kirkby Stephen Sports & Social Club – Kirkby Stephen16 Jun – Arts Hub – Ripon17 Jun – Greystones – Sheffield18 Jun – Islington Assembly Hall, London w/ Police Dog Hogan20 Jun – The Tolmen Centre, Constantine