serpentwithfeet

serpentwithfeet announces debut album, shares "bless ur heart," touring

Orchestral R&B artist serpentwithfeet (aka Josiah Wise) recently signed to Secretly Canadian and we’ve been anticipating his first album for the label. That album is now officially announced — it’s called soil, and it drops on June 8 as a joint release between Secretly Canadian and his former label home Tri Angle Records. It features Tri Angle labelmates Clams Casino (who also works with A$AP Rocky, Vince Staples, and others) and Katie Gately, big-name producer Paul Epworth, and mmph. The first single is “bless ur heart,” which is cut from a similar cloth as serpentwithfeet’s debut EP blisters but clearly a step forward. It’s got a video directed by Andrew Thomas Huang, known for his work with Bjork (who serpentwithfeet recently collaborated with), which you can watch below.

serpentwithfeet talked to The FADER about the new album:

Wise tells me he put literally everything he had into the album. “I want it to feel like it was crafted by somebody,” Wise says. “I’m very tacky, very raggedy. I want people to feel that. Oh, you can tell he did that himself.” There is still a loftiness to Soil, but that DIY spirit also led to bigger hooks and more obvious grooves — sounds he says pay tribute to the dance music that permeated his youth in Baltimore, from the church to the club. “At one point I listened to a lot of classical music and sinuous stuff,” Wise says. “Now I’m like, is it Brandy? Is it Beyoncé? I need to find a snap. I need to catch the beat.”

Wise’s favorite of the new songs is called “Cherubim,” the plural of cherub, the angel whose job is to protect paradise. On the track — a gorgeously layered, in-your-face spin on a classic gospel foot-stomper — Wise’s vibrato shimmers over a looped deep breath and thunderstorm drums. “I — get — to — devote my life to him,” goes its responsorial-like mantra, on which Wise’s voice is multi-tracked and booming. You could easily imagine it being chanted in unison by a spellbound audience, or even a 2,000-person congregation.

serpenwithfeet is also touring, including a Red Bull Music Festival show in NYC on May 17. Tickets for that show go on sale Thursday (3/8) at 10 AM. All dates are listed below.

Tracklist
1. whisper
2. messy
3. wrong tree
4. fragrant
5. mourning song
6. cherubim
7. seedless
8. invoice
9. waft
10. slow syrup
11. bless ur heart

serpentwithfeet — 2018 Tour Dates
Fri. April 13 – London, UK @ Village Underground
Sun. April 15 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noir
Tue. April 17 – Berlin, DE @ Prince Charles
Thu. April 19 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Sun. May 13 – Mayer, AZ @ FORM: Arcosanti
Thu. May 17 – New York, NY @ Red Bull Music Academy
Tue. June 19 – San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
Thu. June 21 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
Fri. June 22 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Sat. June 23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret
Mon. June 25 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Tue. June 26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Wed. June 27 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott
Fri. June 29 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake
Sun. July 1 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Fri. July 6-Sat. July 7 – Eau Claire, WI @ Eaux Claires