Owen (Mike Kinsella) announces new album ‘The Avalanche,’ shares “A New Muse”
Mike Kinsella has mostly been busy with American Football (who released the excellent LP3 last year) lately, but he recently returned to his solo project Owen to release a cover of The 1975's "Me" for a Polyvinyl compilation, and now he has announced the first Owen album in four years.
It's called The Avalanche, and like its 2016 predecessor The King of Whys, it was produced by S. Carey of Bon Iver and engineered by frequent S. Carey collaborator Zach Hanson. The King of Whys came from the same writing sessions as American Football's first reunion album, LP2, but it sounds like The Avalanche was an entirely separate project from the work Mike has been doing with American Football. "After several busy years working within the collaborative framework of a band, Kinsella was more than ready for the complete creative control a new Owen record offered," a press release reads.
The first single is opening track "A New Muse," and this song does sound distinctly different from the music Mike wrote with American Football for LP3, but it also sounds like he's still on the same creative hot streak that helped birth that album. His voice and lyrics sound as powerful on this song as they did on LP3, but instead of sprawling math/post-rock arrangements, "A New Muse" channels earthy folk rock and also brings in the kind of background embellishments you might expect from an album produced by a Bon Iver member. It's a very promising first taste, as you can hear for yourself below.
Owen also has tour dates lined up for this summer and fall, and he "hopes these gigs can take place, but they are subject to postponement if deemed unsafe." Those dates are listed below.
In recent related news, Mike just appeared on The 1975 frontman Matty Healy's podcast, American Football played "Stay Home" while staying home, and they made a quarantine playlist.
Owen -- 2020 Tour Dates
JULY
23 - Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
24 - Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown
25 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
AUGUST
05 - San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
06 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium
07 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
08 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
20 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
21 - Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle
SEPTEMBER
09/09 - Québec, QC @ L'Anti Bar & Spectacles
09/10 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus
09/12 - Ottawa, ON @ 27 Club
09/13 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
11/06 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village