New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Felice Brothers announced they have signed to Conor Oberst's new record label, Million Stars, to release their new album, Valley of Abandoned Songs, which will be released on June 27. The 13-song collection consists of recordings primarily from sessions for the band's 2019 album, Undress, as well as their most recent release, 2023's Asylum On The Hill, both of which were captured live in an 1870s church with the band's current lineup of Ian Felice (guitar/vocals), James Felice (piano/vocals), Jeske Hume (bass), and Will Lawrence (drums).
Today, the band released the album's opening track and first single, "Crime Scene Queen," and announced US and European tours. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit their website.
About "Crime Scene Queen," Ian Felice explains: "The one lyric I had when I started to write this song was 'through the palms of pleasure island, an ominous wind began to blow.' The rest of the story was built around that image. Humphrey Bogart's character in The Big Sleep might also have played some role. It was recorded on the final day of our sessions for Asylum On The Hill.
"A few years ago, I started revisiting old demos that had never seen the light of day and recordings that hadn't found a home on previous albums, and I started thinking of them as the Valley of Abandoned Songs," explains Ian Felice. "At a certain point, I realized that I had a particular group of tunes that worked really well as an album, and so I shared it with Conor, along with my idea to post it online, but he immediately texted back that he loved it so much he wanted to start a new record label just to put it out."
About signing the band to his new label, Conor Oberst adds: "I first encountered the Felice Brothers in 2007 after being given some of their music by a friend. I liked it a lot, but there was something I couldn't put my finger on—singular and mysterious. An iconoclastic version of what some lazy people call "Americana". I subsequently met them and played shows together. They became some of my best friends, family, really. I put out two of their records on the label I co-owned at the time, called Team Love. Then we started to perform together with them as my backing band and made a record of mine called Salutations. Needless to say, I love this band, and when I asked that horrible question, 'Who is your favorite band?' I always answer 'The Felice Brothers.' So when Ian sent me this new collection of songs and told me they just planned to put it up on the internet, I kind of flipped out, because they were so goddamn good. And then I did something I swore I would never do again: I started a new record label. This is my third. It is called Million Stars, and I am so proud to say the new Felice Brothers album is our first release. I can't quit them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do."
Valley of Abandoned Songs follows the surprise release Asylum On The Hill, which was released exclusively on Bandcamp in December, and their 2021 album From Dreams To Dust which was praised by Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Brooklyn Vegan, Cool Hunting, PopMatters, The Bluegrass Situation, Glide Magazine and many more. The New York Times' Jon Pareles called the album's lead single "To-Do List" "...romping honky-tonk existentialism," while American Songwriter praised their "...fascinating, articulate, never pretentious wordplay" and proclaimed, "This album demands the full attention of the listener, an old-school concept; those that put the most into it will get the most out of it."
Valley of Abandoned Songs tracklist:
1) Crime Scene Queen
2) Flowers By The Roadside
3) New York By Moonlight
4) Younger As The Days Go By
5) So Long John
6) Black is My True Love's Hair
7) Raccoon, Rooster And Crow
8) Stranger's Arms
9) Birdies
10) Tomorrow Is Just A Dream Away
11) Let Me Ride Away With The Horsemen
12) It's Midnight And The Doves Are In Tears
13) To Be A Papa
Tour Dates:
7/10 - State College, PA - The State Theatre
7/11 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
7/12 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
7/13 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
7/14 - Portland, ME - Space
726-28 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music Festival
7/27 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
10/29 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
10/30 - Manchester, UK - Band on the Wall
11/01 - Sligo, Ireland - Sligo Live
11/02 - Dublin, Ireland - Button Factory
11/04 - Glasgow, UK - St Luke's
11/05 - Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds
11/06 - Cardiff, UK - The Globe
11/07 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
11/09 - Bristol, UK - Strange Brew
11/10 - Brighton, UK - Chalk
11/12 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso Noord
11/13 - Cologne, Germany - Luxor
11/15 - Berlin, Germany - Kulturhaus Peter Edel
11/16 - Weissenhäuser Strand, Germany - Rolling Stone Beach
