Brooklyn-London-based indie duo The King Canutes present their debut album ‘Eastern Seaboard, Perfect Summer’, an artistic record worthy of their majestic title, via the Montclair, New Jersey-based Magic Door Record Label.
Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by renowned producer Ray Ketchem (Guided by Voices, Luna, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) at Magic Door Recording Studio, The duo’s playful duality sits with hard-earned life lessons. Evocative tales of triumph and tragedy are leavened with everyday fatalism across each of its nine tracks. The album focus track ‘The Mixture as Before’ is a case in point.
Some fifteen years in the gestation and three years in the making, ‘Eastern Seaboard, Perfect Summer’ is a testament to the tenacity of Keir Woods (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars) and Richard Alwyn Fisher (vocals, backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars), capturing and expanding on their unique visions of this songwriting duo.
The King Canutes make intelligent, skewed pop with echoes of early 80s-90s Australian and Scottish pop, British folk and Midwestern indie rock, all melted in the current cosmopolitan cauldrons of New York and London. Having met in the early 2000s amidst NYC’s cosmopolitan pop / indie rock scene, they debuted with their ‘Last Callers and Losers’ EP in 2008. With the dynamic tension of dual singer-songwriters, their music sits somewhere between The Go-Betweens and the long-distance, long-haul commitment of The Postal Service.
Their ambitious new album involves world-class artists – a veritable who’s who of the NYC indie scene. Lending their talents to this outstanding collection are Mac Gollehon (David Bowie, Al Jarreau, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger), Kevin March (Guided by Voices), Dave Derby (Dambuilders, Gramercy Arms, Lloyd Cole), Kendall Jane Meade (Sparklehorse, Mascott), Mike Dillon (Rickie Lee Jones), vocalist Jessie Kilguss, David Nagler (Nova Social, Joan Baez, Aaron Neville), John Leon (Roky Erickson), Doug McEachern (Suran Song in Stag), Renée LoBue (Elk City) and Verena Wiesendanger (Semi Gloss).
“I’m so proud of the album and that we managed to keep the flame alive for all these years. Every addition, expansion and revision added something. The final cut represents the best we can possibly be, and that’s deeply satisfying!,” says Keir Woods.
Richard Alwyn Fisher adds, “From the opening horn blast of ‘Seymour Stein (for Earle Holmes)’ to the achingly beautiful ride out of ‘Come Undone’, this album really shows The King Canutes at our finest. There are many styles here, all held together by the vision Keir and I have been forging for a long while.”
The duo recently released ‘Cars and Girls’, honoring Prefab Sprout, which they used to perform this song for NYC’s legendary annual showcase ‘The Love Hangover’, following the lead track ‘Seymour Stein (for Earle Holmes)’, capturing the elation of freedom and the frustration of starting the artistic journey again, named for the club owner who gave Keir his first Paris bookings after moving from NYC.
As of November 21, the album is out everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. On November 23, The King Canutes holds their album release show at New York City’s Berlin – Under A, joined by Elk City and The Dambuilders, reuniting to perform their 1989 debut album ‘A Young Person’s Guide’.
ALBUM CREDITS
Written by Keir Woods and Richard Alwyn Fisher, except
‘Cars and Girls’ written by Paddy McAloon
Produced, recorded, mixed & mastered by Ray Ketchem at Magic Door in Montclair, NJ
Keir Woods / vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
Richard Alwyn Fisher / vocals, backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
Dave Derby / bass, backing vocals
Doug McEachern / drums
Kevin March / drums
Ray Ketchem / drums, percussion, keyboards, programming
John Leon / pedal steel guitar
Mac Gollehon / horns
David Nagler / piano
Mike Dillon / vibraphone
Kendall Jane Meade / duet and backing vocals
Verena Wiesendanger / duet and backing vocals
Jessie Kilguss / backing vocals
Renée LoBue / backing vocals
Joe Colwell / backing vocals
Single artwork by Peregrine Honig
Album artwork by Ray Ketchem
Released by Magic Door Record Label
Artist photos by Lisa Whiteman
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
TRACK LIST
01 . Seymour Stein [for Earle Holmes]
02 . The Mixture as Before
03 . Cars and Girls
04 . Perfect Summer
05 . Eastern Seaboard
06 . Red Hook Sunset
07 . Room 21
08 . The Man from Hawaii
09 . Come Undone