Widowspeak – Soft Cover
NYC duo Widowspeak have shared “Soft Cover,” the third single from their highly anticipated new album Roses, due out June 5th via Captured Tracks.
The track is achingly gorgeous, featuring one of the album’s most sweeping hooks, buoyed by a driving rhythm section and vocalist Molly Hamilton’s saccharine voice.
“Soft Cover” is about infatuation: wanting and daydreaming about someone as you’re going about your day… even if, and maybe especially if, you’ve been with them a long time,” says Hamilton. “We brought in a Rhodes for this one, so it came in a car from Athens, then took a boat, then a donkey carried it up to the studio,” Hamilton adds, describing the unique recording conditions they experienced at the Old Carpet Factory on the Greek island Hydra.
The longtime duo of Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, Roses arrives as Widowspeak’s seventh album. One of many bands to crop up in a fertile New York City music scene over 16 years ago, they started out shuffling gear between venues now-since shuttered (Glasslands, Cake Shop, 285 Kent, Death By Audio to name a few) and their practice space in Monster Island Basement (now a Trader Joe’s). Widowspeak is now a married couple, working day jobs in their own off-season. Robert is a carpenter, Molly a waitress. Roses is populated not with dramatic overtures but with the backdrop of the minutiae and repetition of daily acts. Small observations before, during, and after work: the ritual of pouring water for customers, catching a cold on your day off. Daydreaming about winning the lottery, or maybe realizing you already won.
They recorded the album last January at a studio on the Greek island Hydra, tucked away in an old house upon the village’s steep hills. It’s quiet there in winter, when the tourists have all gone home. Longtime touring members Willy Muse, John Andrews, and Noah Bond serve here as the players. Roses was then taken home and slowly, lightly tinkered with, before being deftly mixed by Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios, and mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering.
“The video is the last in the world of the trilogy, where the Singing Telegram Girl is dreaming about an idealized Renaissance Faire Guy while waiting around, reading a pulpy novel,” shares Hamilton. “Rob was incredibly enthusiastic about this one because he loves medieval history and we got to pick out some fun costumes from Adele’s of Hollywood. He’s a star!”
Tour Dates
June 16th – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
June 18th – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
June 19th – Washington DC @ DC9
June 20th – Mount Solon, VA @ Red Wing Roots Festival
June 22nd – Raleigh, NC @ Pour House
June 23rd – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
June 24th – Nashville, TN @ Third Man Blue Room
June 26th – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
June 27th – Milwaukee, WI @ The Argo
June 28th – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
June 30th – Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag
July 1st – Toronto, ON @ Sound Garage
July 2nd – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco
July 3rd – Boston, MA @ Arts at the Armory
July 30th – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
July 31st – Aug 2nd – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon (Festival)
Aug 4th – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Aug 7th – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Aug 8th – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Aug 9th – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Aug 11th – Santa Fe, NM @ Tumbleroot Brewery
Aug 12th – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
Aug 14th – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge (Psych Lake City Festival)
Aug 15th – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club
Aug 16th – Spokane, WA @ The District
Nov 12th – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Nov 13th – Dublin, IE @ Workmans Club
Nov 15th – Glasgow, UK @ The Rum Shack
Nov 16th – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room)
Nov 17th – London, UK @ Scala
Nov 18th – Lille, FR @ La Bulle
Nov 19th – Paris, FR @ LePopUp!
Nov 22nd – Milan, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Nov 23rd – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Nov 24th – Munich, DE @ Milla
Nov 25th – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse
Nov 27th – Prague, CZ @ Café V Lese
Nov 29th – Warsaw, PL @ Chmury
Dec 1st – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
Dec 2nd – Hamburg, DE @ Hebebuhne
Dec 3rd – Malmö, SE @ Plan B
Dec 4th – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Dec 5th – Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7
Dec 6th – Oslo, NO @ John Dee
Dec 7th – Copenhagen, DK @ Rust
Dec 9th – Utrecht, NL @ DB’s
Dec 10th – Kortrijk, BE @ Wilde Westen
Dec 11th – Hasselt, BE @ AFF
Dec 13th – Tilburg, NL @ Hall of Fame
#widowspeaking