News

KARL BLAU announces UK and Ireland tour dates for March 2018 in support of new album “Out Her Space”, out now on Bella Union

December 18, 2017

Thaddeus Hink

KARL BLAU announces UK and Ireland tour dates for March 2018 in support of new album “Out Her Space”, out now on Bella Union

 

Following many excellent reviews for Out Her Space, his recently released album which saw him collaborating with musicians from the Spacebomb label,KARL BLAU has announced a run of UK and Ireland tour dates for March 2018. Dates/info below:
Thursday 8th March – LONDON – Borderline tickets
Friday 9th March – BRISTOL – The Station tickets
Saturday 10th March – MANCHESTER – Low Four @ Old Granada Studios tickets
Monday 12th March – LEEDS – Brudenell Social Club tickets
Tuesday 13th March – GLASGOW – Hug & Pint tickets
Wednesday 14th March – LIVERPOOL – Leaf tickets
Thursday 15th March – DUBLIN – The Workman’s Club tickets
Friday 16th March – CORK – Cyprus Avenue tickets
Critical acclaim for Out Her Space, out now on Bella Union:
 
“A soul–funk “cousin” to Big Inner, featuring a hefty dose of off–kilter Afro–pop alongside jazz–rock freak–outs and the acid–country of ‘Blue Is My Name’.” Uncut – 8/10
 
“A gloriously soul–funky shift for the Washington DIY maverick.” MOJO – 4 Stars ****
 
“A rollicking mishmash of Afro–pop, funk, soul, jazz, prog and pretty much anything else lying around… Blau’s partnership with Matthew E White brings the songs to life.” 
Record Collector – 4 Stars ****
 
“Offkilter country–soul from Washington State indie veteran.” Q
 
“Bubbling percussion, gently grooving bass guitars, freestyle jazz breakdowns and the odd crazed electric guitar keep you on your toes… Blau’s voice gives weight to his words, their gravity pulling against the warm central swirl.” London In Stereo
 
Last month Blau shared the track “Beckon” from the album which can be heard HERE.
 
Sequestered away in rural bliss, 90 minutes north of Seattle on the Washington state coast, Karl Blau has been making records for 20 years, but never with European distribution. So, when Bella Union released Introducing Karl Blau in 2016, it shone a belated and deserved light on “one of the great hidden treasures of music,” claimed album producer Tucker Martine. But given Introducing’s specific agenda – a set of gorgeous, lush cover versions drawing mostly on vintage Nashville’s country-soul with Blau concentrating on his rich, reverberating voice, his latest album Out Her Space is so different that it could be titled Reintroducing Karl Blau.

Out Her Space features all Blau’s own material, production and multi-instrumental skills, and forges a gorgeous, languid and hook-infested gumbo of soul, funk, some jazzy blowing and Afro-pop, to arrive somewhere else entirely.  

When Matthew E. White started a new label, Spacebomb, based around a house band in the style of the old Stax and Motown ventures, he called on Blau to engineer the album. The LP that came from this partnership was White’s solo album Big Inner. Having heard Blau’s own demos, White ensured that Spacebomb’s hot-to-trot backing band – centred around (now Foxygen) bassist Cameron Ralston and drummer Pinson Chanselle – supported Blau too, and he came away with an album’s worth of tracks, which also featured Blau (guitar, percussion, synth, sax), White (guitar, synth), Phil Cook of MegaFaun (piano) and a wider cast of horns, piano, viola and backing vocals. 

 

You Might Also Like

No Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.