Lambchop returning with new album ‘FLOTUS,’ share 18-minute “The Hustle”
Nashville lifers Lambchop, led by the great Kurt Wagner, are prepping for the release of a new album FLOTUS — which stands for For Love Often Turns Us Still and not First Lady of the Uninted States — is due out on November 4 via Merge. (Pre-orders are available) They’ve shared the first single, which is the epic 18-minute track “The Hustle.”
“The Hustle” is a stunner in the specific, low-key way that all Lambchop excels. Here they’re playing with Krautrock and early electronic music, in contrast to the alt-country and chamber folk stylings of their last album, 2012’s great Mr. M. But, as usual, Kurt Wagner gets to tell a winding, quietly devastating story in his uniquely conversational-yet-lilting delivery, full of baroque touches both lyrical and musical. Here’s what Kurt says about it:
My wife and I attended this wedding of one her colleagues in the countryside outside of Nashville. Weddings are a heady mix of emotions, memories, and events that can be quite rich in imagery. With this being a Quaker wedding, there was a lack of “officiating” in that the bride and groom addressed each other directly the entire time. This was something that I found to be most touching. Beyond that, as with much of my writing, I tend to describe experiences in an almost journalistic fashion and then strip things down till there is barely a thread to hold them together—in this case, starting with the vows and then moving on from there. The entire wedding party was doing this great synchronized dance step that I hadn’t seen before. I asked my wife what dance it was, and she told me it was the Hustle. She suggested I join them. I respectfully declined.
Clear 20 minutes off your calendar and listen to “The Hustle” below.
Lambchop have a few dates coming up, including Hopscotch. All those dates are listed, along with a stream of The Hustle” and a trailer for the new album, below.
Lambchop – FLOTUS tracklist:
01 In Care of 8675309
02 Directions to the Can
03 FLOTUS
04 JFK
05 Howe
06 Old Masters
07 Relatives #2
08 Harbor Country
09 Writer
10 NIV
11 The Hustle
Lambchop — 2016 Tour Dates
8/12 Tahoe, CA @ Moe’s Original BBQ
9/8 Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Fest
9/14 Pittsburgh, PA @ Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland
