You can now watch a new video for Shearwater’s “I Luv The Valley OH!,” the leadoff track from Fellow Travelers.  The clip, directed by Branan Edgens and designed by Kahn & Selesnick, stars band leader Jonathan Meiburg as one of two astronauts stranded after a crash landing in an unfamiliar world.

Meiburg says of the “I Luv The Valley OH!!” cover: “Xiu Xiu’s deeply anxious song always seemed like it wanted to be a big rock anthem to me, so we decided to go for it and blow it out.  I played a white 3-pickup SG (like Sister Rosetta Tharpe!) through a Marshall stack (like AC/DC!)  for the opening guitar riff – not a sound that’s ever appeared on a SW rec before – and Cully Symington whacked the drums with mallets as hard as he could, sounding more like the Swans’ orchestral-percussion approach than a regular drum set.  I love how this song – about imploring a partner to take Mifeprex, I’m pretty sure – seems to explode and implode at the same time, a state of ecstatic terror Jamie’s music often inhabits and lurks in a lot of my songs, too.” (For more info, including a Fellow Travelers track-by-track breakdown by JM, click here).

 Shearwater is also pleased to share their tour plans for 2014 in support of Fellow Travelers.  The  band will begin North American touring on February 6th, 2014 in Phoenix, AZ at Rhythm Room for a series of dates that currently end on March 29th in Chicago, IL at the Empty Bottle.  Shearwater will then head to Europe for two weeks, beginning April 23rd in Vienna, AT at Szene and ending May 9th in Zurich, CH at Bogen. All live dates will also act as a preview of new material from the band’s forthcoming studio album, due out in late 2014. There will be more tour dates announced shortly.

Fellow Travelers, Shearwater’s new collection of reinventions and collaborations with artists they’ve toured with over the years, is due out November 25th in Europe and November 26th in North America on Sub Pop.

Fellow Travelers