Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Cotton Mather sets July 29th as release date of critically revered Austin-based band’s first all-new album in 15 years.

Comprised of 11 songs, “Death of The Cool” is part of ongoing 64-song collection representing I Ching’s 64 hexagrams.

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Robert Harrison of Cotton Mather as photographed by Valerie Fremin.

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Stream two songs from Cotton Mather’s Death of The Cool now! Hear “The Book of Too Late Changes” via Texas Monthly and “Child Bride” via KUTX, Austin.

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Listen and learn more by visiting ichingsongs.com to hear four additional tracks not found on Death of The Cool, including “The Cotton Mather Pledge” (based on I Ching hexagram #13: Seeking Harmony), and to read commentaries on each track by Robert Harrison.

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 “Kontiki gave me something to shoot for.” – Britt Daniel of Spoon on Cotton Mather

It didn’t take 15 years for Cotton Mather’s Austin-based main man, Robert Harrison to write the 64 songs (64 songs!) that comprise his latest musical vision: one song for each hexagram (or reading) of the I Ching.  That’s actually the amount of time that has passed since the last full-length album of new Cotton Mather songs was released.  With so much new material on deck, it seems like Harrison is making up the difference.

Half a dozen tracks from this treasure trove of new tunes have already been posted one-by-one in “real time and real weather” as Harrison describes this creative process, and now the first of an eventual four albums that will ultimately contain much of the entire song cycle, has been announced. 

Arriving on July 29th, the eleven-track Death of The Cool contains another nine of Harrison’s pure pop meditations on Chinese philosophy, along with the two currently available tracks that initially announced the project – “The Book of Too Late Changes” (based on I Ching hexagram #24: The Return) and “Child Bride” (based on #4: Youthful Folly.)

15 songs deep into revealing such an ambitious undertaking to the public, Harrison reflects, “These are my reactions in song to illuminations from the I Ching about life unfolding. Some of the songs directly reference the text and others use the readings as a starting point. Until I started this project, it had never before occurred to me to seek counsel with respect to songwriting, but after I turned to the I Ching for artistic guidance on several occasions with nice results, I thought ‘Why not go for the whole cycle?’”

Harrison’s commentaries about each of the songs can be found at the website for the project, ichingsongs.com.

“Each song’s commentary at ichingsongs.com reflects how a translator traditionally shares thoughts on the reading,” Harrison says. “However, I will limit my commentary to the readings themselves, and let the songs enjoy a free-range lifestyle.”

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For anyone thinking that 64 songs written around a single theme can’t possibly maintain a standard of quality, then welcome to the unlikely world of Cotton Mather.  Founded by Robert Harrison in Austin in the early 1990’s, the band initially had an experimental sound, but soon evolved into a guitar-driven pop group defined by accessible melodies, strong vocal harmonies and lyrical wit.  Cotton Mather released its debut album Cotton Is King in 1994, but it was the follow-up album Kontiki, famously recorded on four-track cassette, that drew praise from critics and rock-stars alike.

Uncut Magazine gave Kontiki five stars calling the record “music to smile yourself to death to.” Mojo said the songs were “brought to life with daring vitality,” and in its own five-star review, The Guardian called Kontiki “a bewildering, dizzy thrill.” On our shores, the bounce back of influence from across the pond was finally felt with Britt Daniel of Spoon being just one artist to say “Kontiki gave me something to shoot for.”

Death of The Cool, the first of four anticipated albums comprising Robert Harrison and Cotton Mather’s endeavor to write and record 64 songs for each of the I Ching’s 64 hexagrams is set for release on July 29th, 2016 via The Star Apple Kingdom.  Four additional non-album tracks can be heard now via ichingsongs.com with additional non-album tracks forthcoming.

Robert Harrison of Cotton Mather is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Cotton Mather
Death of The Cool
(The Star Apple Kingdom)
July 29th, 2016

 

Track Listing:

01. The Book of Too Late Changes (STREAM | MP3)
02. Close To The Sun
03. The Middle of Nowhere
04. Candy Lilac
05. Life of The Liar
06. The Land of Flowers
07. Never Be It
08. Queen of Swords
09. Waters Raging
10. Child Bride (STREAM | MP3)
11. The End of DeWitt Finley

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Cotton Mather Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


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