JOVM mainstays Still Corners — vocalist and keyboardist Tessa Murray and multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter Greg Hughes — will be releasing their long-awaited sixth album, Dream Talk on April 5, 2024 through the band’s own label Wrecking Light Records.
The album’s material was written in Southern France, East Sussex, UK and Woodstock. “The songs came together quickly and being able to write from anywhere kept up our momentum,” Still Corners’ Tessa Murray says. Produced by the band’s Greg Hughes at their Woodstock-based studio, Hughes says, “We tried various things like different mics, amps and effects before committing to anything. Everything was mixed analog through our new SSL console, there’s a gleam to the sound.”
The album features ten carefully-crafted songs that sees the acclaimed duo further mastering a sound and overall body of work that is focused, stylish and incredibly seductive. “The genesis for a lot of these songs came from dreams. Every night I would write down the dreams I could remember,” Still Corners’ Murray says. “While recording I would pull out my book of dreams and sing over various looped phrases Greg had been working on. The repetitive nature of the looping and singing almost felt like going into a trance. A lot of the songs came from that process, it was fun and what I thought were sort of ramblings ended up surprising us with their various meanings and imagery.”
So far I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:
- “Secret World,” which saw the acclaimed JOVM mainstays pairing Murray’s imitable smoky croon with a shimmering and looping Western-tinged guitar line, twinkling and atmospheric synths and a gently driving rhythm. “Secret World,” continues a remarkable run of dreamy yet alluring material with a hint of danger — like the mythical sirens on the rocky shore seducing sailors to their eventual watery doom. Thematically, the song ruminates upon the perils of obsession. “Sometimes the thought of someone, wanting to know them, get into their world is dangerous,” Tessa Murray explains. “The real person doesn’t matter anymore, just the fantasy of them, which is totally wrong but feels right.”
- Built around a shimmering and reverb-drenched guitar line that would make Johnny Marr proud paired, Dream Talk‘s second and latest single “The Dream” features a quick-paced rhythm, train-like rhythm, atmospheric synths and shakers serving as a lush bed for Murray’s smoky croon describing riding on a speeding train at night and a classically epic tale of being within “a dream within a dream,” before ending with a breathtaking guitar solo. “The Dream” is classic Still Corners — shimmering yet broodingly noir-ish, and always cinematic. Thematically, the new single is inspired by and indebted to a quote from Shakespeare: “Are you sure that we are awake? It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream.”
Dream Talk‘s third and latest single “Crystal Blue” is a slow-burning and atmospheric torch song featuring twinkling percussion, softly padded drums and a bit of marimba, Murray’s smoky and yearning croon, a shimmering and an expressive Greg Hughes guitar solo. Seemingly channeling a handful of great 1980s ballads, “Crystal Blue” is about two lovers, separated by the sea, dreaming of their eventual reunion. Hours, days, nights and weeks go by with the waves and the moonlight being the only companions to their longing and heartache.
The new accompanying video, directed by Lucy Dyson is a gorgeous, noveau vague-like visual that combines Super 8 footage of the band in the sun-drenched Mediterranean and beach-inspired illustrations and visual effects that firmly give the video a fittingly summery specificity.
l”‘Crystal Blue’ is my fourth music video for Still Corners,” Lucy Dyson says, “and as always, it’s so lovely to get to develop a visual concept for their music, and this song has so many gorgeous elements; it sounds like the sea and a summer breeze, and the peacefulness I feel when snorkeling (is there a more peaceful creature than the seahorse?). So, working with the beautiful 8mm footage they provided me with, and Tessa’s lovely silk shirt as the perfect color pallet, I created a multifaceted video piece bringing together the elements that the music evokes for me; the gentle sway of a coral reef, mottled Neptune hues, and the mesmerizing motions of seagulls hovering to the music carried by the wind.”
The JOVM mainstays will be supporting Dream Talk with an extensive our throughout 2024 that includes an April 17, 2024 stop at Elsewhere, as well as stops in in Mexico City, the UK and the European Union. As always, tour dates are below.
A special ‘indie’ version of Dream Talk is available to pre-order on coke bottle colored vinyl with a poster and download code from select independent record shops and Cargo Direct. Dream Talk merchandise is available on the band’s online shop.
2024 TOUR DATES:
April 17 – Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY
April 19 – Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
April 21 – The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
April 23 – Regency Theater, Los Angeles, CA
April 26 – Foro, Mexico City, Mexico
May 5 – Chalk, Brighton, UK
May 6 – Band on the Wall, Manchester, UK
May 7 – Strange Brew, Bristol, UK
May 8 – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
May 10 – De Casino, St. Niklaas, Belgium
May 11 – Willem Twee, Den Bosch, Netherlands
May 12 – Café de la Danse, Paris, France
May 13 – Paard, The Hague, Netherlands
May 16 – Loppen, Copenhagen, Denmark
May 17 – Bahnhof Pauli, Hamburg, Germany
May 18 – UT Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany
May 19 – Lido, Berlin, Germany
May 20 – Niebo, Warsaw, Poland
May 21 – Kwadrat, Krakow, Poland
May 22 – Nova Cvernovka, Bratislava, Slovakia
May 24 – Salon IKSV, Istanbul, Turkey
May 25 – Salon IKSV, Istanbul, Turkey
May 27 – Škofja Loka Castle, Škofja Loka, Slovenia
May 28 – Locomotiv, Bologna, Italy
May 29 – Arci Belleza, Milan, Italy
May 31 – Gagarin 205, Athens, Greece
