Beach Fossils have announced their new album The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, a collection of jazz reimaginings, from their catalogue. Along with the news the Brooklyn, NY band have shared a video for “This Year (Piano),” a track originally off their 2017 LP Somersault. The inspiration for the album grew out of Payseur’s love for artists like Lester Young, Chet Baker, Bill Evans and Coleman Hawkins – specifically their ballads. Beach Fossils will embark on a co-headline tour with Wild Nothing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut.

For The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, Payseur enlisted ​​Tommy Gardner, who played drums on Clash The Truth and was a member of Beach Fossils from 2011 until 2016 when he moved to China. Gardner was one of the first people Payseur met when he moved to New York in 2008. Gardner, at the time a recent Julliard grad, and Payseur bonded over their mutual appreciation of jazz. “I was astounded by the amount of musical talent that he possessed,” says Payseur. “On tour, whenever we were in a green room with a piano, Gardner would sit down and start improvising Beach Fossils songs in a jazzy style. He would be playing the melodies for the guitars, bass and vocals all together. It’s not like he rehearsed it, it would be the first time he’d ever attempted to play these songs, and it was always beautiful. For years I had the idea of turning these piano versions of Beach Fossils songs into an album, and in 2020 when touring came to a sudden halt due to Covid, I reached out to Gardner and asked if he wanted to finally make this album.”

On The Other Side of Life, in addition to Payseur singing and Gardner playing piano, saxophone, and upright bass, Henry Kwapis plays drums. Even though the album was recorded remotely, Gardner and Kwapis did an excellent job of making it feel like a live session. “As for my vocals, I’m not a jazz singer and I had no intention of altering my style for this record,” says Payseur. “The idea was for my vocals to be the common thread between the original versions and these new versions.”

“A song by itself is naked, there are endless possibilities for how to dress a song and every choice creates a radically different outcome,” Payseur continues. “Making this album let me step back and see these songs from a new perspective. I hope you’ll enjoy what we’ve done with them.”

Beach Fossils
The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads
Tracklisting
Bayonet Records

1. This Year (Piano)
2. May 1st (Piano)
3. Sleep Apnea (Piano)
4. What a Pleasure (Piano)
5. Adversity (Piano)
6. Down the Line (Piano)
7. Youth (Piano)
8. That’s All For Now (Piano)

Beach Fossils Tour Dates
(all shows co-headline with Wild Nothing)
Mon. Oct. 4 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Tue. Oct. 5 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
Wed. Oct. 6 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Thu. Oct. 7 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri. Oct. 8 – St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Sat. Oct. 9 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s
Sun. Oct. 10 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
Wed. Oct. 13 – Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
Thu. Oct. 14 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Fri. Oct. 15 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Sat. Oct. 16 – Houston, TX @ Satellite
Mon. Oct. 18 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
Wed. Oct. 20 – Miami, FL @ The Ground
Thu. Oct. 21 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham
Fri. Oct. 22 – Gainesville, FL @ High Dive
Sat. Oct. 23 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre
Mon. Oct. 25 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
Tue. Oct. 26 – Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry
Wed. Oct. 27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Thu. Oct. 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sat. Oct. 30 – Boston, MA @ Royale
Mon. Nov. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Fri. Nov. 12 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
Sat. Nov. 13 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
Mon. Nov. 15 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Tue. Nov. 16 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Wed. Nov. 17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency
Thu. Nov. 18 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
Fri. Nov. 19 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA
Sat. Nov. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
Sun. Nov. 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern

Pre-order The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads HERE