13/06/2007 New Single / Tour News05/05/2007 Yahoo! Music Album Review
05/05/2007 GIGWISE Album Review
05/05/2007 ravemagazine.com.au interview
05/05/2007 Subba-Cultcha.com Review
14/04/2007 bbc.co.uk Album review
14/04/2007 Timeout Review
11/04/2007 Modern Music Review
11/04/2007 Disorder Magazine Review
11/04/2007 This Is Fake Diy Review
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New Single / Tour News
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Soulsavers return with the second single from their critically acclaimed album ??It??s Not How Far You Fall, It??s The Way You Land??. ??Kingdoms Of Rain?? will be released on 23rd July and available on limited edition 7? vinyl and download.
Dark, brooding and claustrophobic, ??Kingdoms Of Rain?? casts Mark Lanegan as?? Johnny Cash for the post-digital, post- nuclear age.??(Uncut) The result is something Time Out describes as, ?Alarmingly insightful and breathtakingly vivid?.
In addition to this release, Soulsavers take the album on a 12 date European Tour, playing both summer festivals and headline shows. Mark Lanegan will be providing vocals at all these shows.
Live dates July 2007:
05/07 Athens - Open Air Amphitheatre (supporting Iggy & The Stooges)
06/07 Belgium - Cactus Festival
07/07 Denmark - Roskilde
08/07 Scotland - T in the Park
10/07 Amsterdam - Melkweg
11/07 Paris - Le Nouveau Casino
13/07 Madrid - Summercase
14/07 Barcelona - Summercase
15/07 Suffolk - Latitude Festival
16/07 Manchester - Academy 3
17/07 London - Bush Hall
18/07 London - Bush Hall
Yahoo! Music Album Review
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Soulsavers - 'It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land'
(Friday April 20, 2007 1:43 PM )
Released on 16/04/07
Label: V2
It is impossible not to conclude that some of Mark Lanegan's more self-destructive tendencies have been reined in. It's not just that he's positively ubiquitous these days (appearances and collaborations with Queens Of The Stone Age, Isobel Campbell, Desert Sessions and Twilight Singers), or that he now actually seems capable of turning up for live dates, give interviews and the like. No, it's because he's showing all the signs of the 12-step confessional.
And if it was weird seeing the uber-beauty and the beast combination of Campbell and Lanegan on stage (imagine, if you will, a tattooed woodsman murderer, his hair combed roughly into a parting at his parole hearing, flanked by his petite and well meaning pro-bono lawyer), well Soulsavers is even stranger. It's an almost uncomfortable experience at times listening to such heartfelt pleas for understanding and forgiveness on tracks like the epic opening prayer for salvation that is "Revival".
When AA and other such groups step in, they first demand you submit yourself to the munificence of a higher power. "Why am I so blind with my eyes wide open, I need someone now that this dark night's begun", Lanegan laments with gospel backing. But it's all metaphor really. His torment may be caused by drink, drugs or heartbreak; the person he pleads to may be his ex-girl, a dealer, a stranger or God. Whatever the source of his continual cycle of pain and redemption, your correspondent will raise a glass anyway, while it's helping produce music like this.
Of course, Soulsavers themselves released an UNKLE-esque album, entitled "Tough Guys Don't Dance" four years ago. But "It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land", has ditched most of the blunted electronica in favour of a smoky, whisky marinated style that calls to mind prime Death In Vegas and Portishead. Slack and down-tuned drum skins play a shuffling tattoo on "Paper Money", with buzzing organs and Lanegan playing the grunge generation's Tom Waits.
This particular wheel hasn't been reinvented, and there's no reason why it should be. The John Fante referencing "Ask The Dust" sounds like a slightly more restrained Grinderman and on every track there's the sense that what sounds great during the daylight hours will sound magnificent at 4am with a glass of single malt and a cigarette. Perhaps another indicator that progress has been made arrives with the bizarre sound of Lanegan and Will Oldham duetting on "Through My Sails". However you analyse it, this is an album to linger in the system long after you've removed it from the player.
You can view the original article here
http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/070420/33/2188n.html
GIGWISE Album Review
Saturday, May 05, 2007
'It??s Not How Far You Fall, It??s the Way You Land' is not a party album. Not unless the kind of parties you go too consist of staring out at the stormy night from a cold, candle-lit room, knocking back whiskey from the bottle and praying to God for forgiveness for some unspeakable sin. No, this record doesn??t want to go out. It wants to stay in with you, whisper you its secrets, inject you with fear, heal your wounds and hopefully save your soul.
If 'It??s Not How Far You Fall? ' is more of a grower than an instant hit, then its not shown on opener 'Revival'. A favourite on Zane Lowe??s radio show, the track burns with such slow intensity that, when he hears it, it will convince Richard Ashcroft to finally pack it all in. Ex-Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan leads his choir through the first of many gospel-inflected tracks, and it??s enough to make you want to go and find the nearest church.
Having Lanegan??s tobacco-tarred growl onboard is a stroke of genius and no small feat given that Soulsavers?? Rich Machin has met the grunge icon only a handful of times. 'Spiritual's simple repeated refrain of ??Jesus, I don??t want to die alone? sounds genuinely like the last breaths of dying man ?? in a good way, obviously ?? while his vocal on the cover of The Rolling Stones?? 'No Expectations' matches the Potteries-based duo??s production in turning the resignation of the original into a sense of sheer abandonment.
Stripped of Lanegan??s lead vocals, Soulsavers?? vision remains just as bleak. 'Ask the Dust', 'Arizona Bay' and the album??s untitled bonus track are desolate, unforgiving instrumental landscapes that invite you in but make no promises to return you safely home. But ultimately, Soulsavers do bring you back. 'It??s Not How Far You Fall? ' is a cathartic listen ?? often troubling, but always redemptive. In keeping with the album??s title, Soulsavers have landed with some style.
You can view the original article here
http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=30539
ravemagazine.com.au interview
Saturday, May 05, 2007
??As a rule, when you??re not pimping yourself to sell a record, the phone doesn??t tend to ring at this time of night.? A gruff but agreeable RICH MACHIN of UK downtempo act SOULSAVERS is awake at 1am to talk to TOPHER HEALY about their new album It??s Not How Far You Fall, It??s The Way You Land.
Rich Machin and Ian Glover emerged as Soulsavers in 2003 with the dark delight Tough Guys Don??t Dance ?? an album somewhat erroneously lumped in with the tail end of the UK??s chillout explosion. Moody and sinuous, it evoked the midnight murmurings of Tricky rather than the likes of Lemon Jelly or Zero 7; a fact not lost on Machin, who prefers to think of his music as having more in common with authors like Cormac Macarthy and William Faulkner than spliff and beanbag tunes.
??The nature of the industry is that it never accepts something just for what it is. It has to find a nice neat little genre to put a record in so that it knows what to do with it,? he states flatly. ??I??m sure that someone is out there scrambling around trying to find a pigeonhole to stick this one in. That??s just what people do.?
The new Soulsavers album is different proposition again ?? gorgeous and soulful opener Revival sets the scene, featuring indie rock royal Mark Lanegan and a gospel choir. Lanegan, who came on board via a chance introduction to Machin while touring his solo album Bubblegum, is the vocal heart of the new album, appearing on five songs and adding a dusky quality that sits perfectly with the Soulsavers?? penchant for earthy Americana (a guest appearance by Will Oldham also helps).
Foregoing current collaborative trends between electronic producers and vocalists, Machin explains that much of the recording was completed in LA under unusual circumstances.
??It wasn??t one of those postal records that seems to be the new thing,? he says. ??We did everything late at night ?? the sessions with Mark definitely, because we were scammin?? some studio time off some friends at this particularly great studio in Hollywood. We??d have to wait until every other fucker had gone home [laughs]. We??d roll in about 11 o??clock, do the graveyard shift, and then roll back out about 5am, making sure any trace of us was removed before the day shift arrived.?
Given the four years between albums, I ask Machin if the multiple trips back and forth between the UK and the States to marry demos, choir vocals, and Lanegan??s parts were responsible for the bulk of delay, or whether they just wanted to wait out the chillout tag. He partially agrees, but qualifies: ??We actually started this record in 2004 ?? it??s just taken us this long to finish it. It??s not like we were sitting around on our arses doing nothing.?
After a pause he adds laconically, ??Actually we did spend a lot of that time sitting on our arses doing nothing.?
Wait or not, it??s definitely been worth the time spent, and It??s Not How Far? is an expansive step forwards for Soulsavers, one acknowledged by Machin.
??We always wanted to make a different record. Some bands are quite happy to make the same record four times over and then call it a day. That??s all well and good, but to me it??s boring. I love loads of different styles of music, and I want to make a different record every time. The next one will sound completely different again. That??s what keeps it exciting to me, to be able to do things like that.?
It??s Not How Far You Fall, It??s How You Land is out now through V2/Shock.
You can view the original article here
http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/3472/30/
Subba-Cultcha.com Review
Saturday, May 05, 2007
At last something has come out of Stoke that if there??s any justice in the world will render all talk of Master Williams obsolete. In Soulsaver??s new opus ??It??s not how far you fall, it??s the way you land?? Rich Machin and Ian Glover have spent three years creating an album of such devotional beauty that even on first listen it creates an abundantly transcendent experience.
Spacious in it??s arrangements to the point of minimalism they dispense of grandiose embellishment to create a scintillating, silken, canvas of swooping Gospel and Tricky style, Bristolian trip-hop loops, onto which to pour the whiskey sodden preachers cry of Mark Lanegan.
Of late Mark Lanegan has been in the kind of demand that his voice merits. Variously turning out for Queens Of The Stone Age, Belle and Sebastian and Gregg Dulli??s irrationally seductive The Twighlight Singers, as well as continuing his own outstanding solo career with his last LP Bubblegum. Here though, with opener ??Revival?? Lanegan may have committed to tape his finest moment so far. Through four minutes and eleven seconds we are guided through a redemption ballad that features soaring hymnal pump organ passages combined with full gospel backing choir. Lanegans voice framed perfectly for an understated performance towards the top of his register that creeps up on you and turns into a full on spine tingler before you even notice.
Elsewhere, across more oblique beats we find Lanegan channelling Johnny Cash and Hank Williams to full effect. Perfectly capturing the damned preacher on tracks such as ??Jesus Of Nothing?? and ??Ghosts of You And Me??. Reworking Neil Youngs ??Through My Sails?? and the Stones ??No Expectations?? adds a further sense of linear history to the album. Joining the full legacy of country and gospel to the trip hop, loop laden present.
Soulsavers are a band lost out of time, which makes them the perfect band for our times. ??It??s not how far you fall??? is the record of the year so far and it will save your soul.
6/5
For Fans Of: Mark Lanegan, Johnny Cash, Neil Young
www.thesoulsavers.com
By Jonathan Sebire
You can view the original article here
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=4913