Austin, Texas’s psychedelic warriors The Black Angels are set to storm Europe and the UK this autumn in celebration of their forthcoming third album, Phosphene Dream. The run of shows includes a very special date at Shepherd’s Bush Empire with Canada’s Black Mountain: a cast-iron clash of the darkest psych-rockers to walk the earth that promises to be an epic night of hypnotic drone-rock.
The highly anticipated Phosphene Dream will be the band’s first release for revived record label Blue Horizon, the legendary late ‘60s blues label best known for discovering Chickenshack, Fleetwood Mac and more. The Black Angels are the first band signed to the label since industry veterans Richard Gottehrer, co-founder of distribution company The Orchard, and Seymour Stein, CEO of Sire Records (WMG), announced its revival at MIDEM earlier this year. Seymour Stein commented: “Great musicianship and performers, mesmerizing vocals and songs that penetrate the subconscious – that’s the best way to describe Black Angels, our first signing to Blue Horizon records. In every way, the band is perfect choice to re-launch to this iconic label.”
Produced and mixed by big-hitting producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, Wolfmother, Black Mountain) over a period of six months in Los Angeles, Phosphene Dream marks a giant leap forward for the Black Angels, showing a bold new direction sonically and musically and a fresh take on the neo-psychedelic movement they’ve been at the forefront of for years.
While past albums Passover and Directions to See a Ghost were recorded in the band’s hometown of Austin, Texas, the process involved on making Phosphene Dream pulled the band out of their comfort zone and forced them to look at songwriting and recording in a way they never have before.
Years of non-stop worldwide touring had turned the band into a tightly wound unit, and those finely honed chops are evident here. The band plans to celebrate the release with more years of touring, starting at the end of August with the Reading and Leeds festivals in the UK, Rock en Seine in Paris, and a highly coveted slot at the Jim Jarmusch-curated ATP in New York.
