Forthcoming Album The Dharma Wheel
Available October 8 On Silver Current Records
Out Now On All Streaming Platforms
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Bandcamp Pre-Order Available Now
For Audiophile Edition 2-LP Color Vinyl and Black Vinyl + CD & Digital Formats
Today, Howlin Rain releases “Don’t Let The Tears” (listen/share)—the second single from the band’s forthcoming studio album, The Dharma Wheel, due October 8 on Silver Current Records. A psychedelicized call to hold your head high in the darkest of times, the track brings the boogie with wah-wah guitars and Bernie Worrell-dosed madcap synth work from guest keyboardist Adam MacDougall. As Howlin Rain principle Ethan Miller declares in the refrain: “Don’t let the tears flow down beneath your leaves, for the years can drown just as easily,” its swirling forward motion showers 70s’ glitter upon a dance floor of the mind.
“‘Don’t Let the Tears‘ is the quintessential example of the joy location on the map of The Dharma Wheel album,” says Miller. “Lyrically, it’s a bit of a nod to the poetry of Kenneth Patchen and Richard Brautigan, like a loose twist of tragedy and comedy barreling forth sincerely in a high energy, absurdist yawp. Musically it’s intended as a potent, fast-acting pill of spirit rejuvenation for the listener—a bubbling, liquid labyrinth of sonic delights and music as a celebration of music.”
Over nearly 20 years, Howlin Rain has become the quintessential independent American rock ‘n’ roll band: a steam-spitting Hydra of cranked guitars, kicking asphalt dust through a kaleidoscoping travelogue of desert motels and dives, volleying forth transmissions of sci-fi poetry from the blacktop veins of this cracked and aching country. Now, in the sordid state of America 2021, Ethan Miller and company return with The Dharma Wheel, an album of great depth and steeped in much needed good vibes. Its six tracks provide a journey through a rich, glistening world of the ultra-vivid.
Lending a hand on the collection is the legendary Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue) on violin, and the endlessly inventive Adam MacDougall(Circles Around the Sun, Chris Robinson Brotherhood) on keys. Tim Green (Six Organs Of Admittance, Earthless) who produced previous Howlin Rain records, Magnificent Fiend and The Russian Wilds, returns to co-produce with Miller.
“We were trying to build a world big enough that the imagination won’t go soft on you after just a few listens and where our love for this music, and music in general—along with a good dose of audacity—creates a magic carpet ride through the world of The Dharma Wheel,” Miller continues. “In pursuing that I think we also managed to make a record that has a lot of joy in it: the joy of playing music. And it’s this joy, this exuberance and dedication to the lines of cosmic expression—all centered in the exalted art of the everyday—that constructs the heart of the record.”
Howlin Rain The Dharma Wheel is available now to pre-order on audiophile edition, two-LP blue/gold and violet/baby blue 180-gram colored vinyl, as well as, two-LP black vinyl. Both editions are pressed at 45 RPM for maximum sound quality and feature high-gloss laminated tip-on gatefold jacket with matte finish on inner panels. CD and digital formats are also available. Pre-order at: https://howlinrain.bandcamp.com/album/the-dharma-wheel
Howlin Rain
The Dharma Wheel
Available Oct. 8 on Silver Current Records
Track Listing:
1. Prelude
2. Don’t Let The Tears
3. Under The Wheels
4. Rotoscope
5. Annabelle
6. Dharma Wheel
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