Tag: Nap Eyes

Nap Eyes announce new album, “Snapshot of a Beginner,” out March 27th.

Photo by Alex Blouin and Jodi Heartz

Nap Eyes will release their new album, Snapshot of a Beginner, their most concentrated and hi-fi effort to date, on March 27th via Jagjaguwar / Royal Mountain, in partnership with Paradise of Bachelors. Throughout the album, there’s an immediately noticeable leap in arrangement and muscle, one that still holds the raw, nervous energy and the earnest, self-deprecating poetry that make Nap Eyes an enduring cult favorite. The music still brings to mind the bucolic ennui of the Silver Jews and Daniel Johnston’s jittery naïveté, but the new sheen and maturity also now brings to mind the wide-angle appeal of The Jayhawks and the addictive brightness of Green Day’s Kerplunk!.

Lead single “Mark Zuckerberg” is a hi-fi jangle-pop earworm that, at its outset, sounds like it could be the theme song from Party of Five. Less a takedown of any one specific, capitalist tech fascist than it is a poem about the confounding and beautiful swirl of modern life, it is their thoughtful, incisive Hit for The People. “Transcendence is all around us,” Chapman repeats, a freeing incantation and a gift to us all as the coda slows and expands.

On the video, the band notes: “People are scared of Mark Zuckerberg. You look at him before Congress and think, ‘Is this the bogeyman? Is he a CIA plant? Can he read my mind with some sort of God-mode search feature in all my chat transcripts?’ This video leads us to believe that Mark wants to enjoy and surveil whatever world he inhabits, whether it’s starting a band with ghastly apparitions in the spirit realm or changing size according to his whim while observing natural and urban landscapes with equal awe. He wants you to accept his friend request and let him watch over you. ‘When there was only one set of footprints in the sand…’”

Almost all the songs of Nap Eyes are whittled into their final form from frontman Nigel Chapman’s unspooling, 20-minute voice-and-guitar free-writing sessions. Each member — drummer Seamus Dalton, bassist Josh Salter and guitarist Brad Loughead — then plays a crucial role in song development, composing around the idiosyncratic structures and directing the overall sound and feel of the songs.

Until now, that final song construction and recording has been mostly done live in a room. But for Snapshot of a Beginner, the band went to The National’s nuevo-legendary upstate NY Long Pond Studio, working with producers Jonathan Low (Big Red Machine, The National) and James Elkington (Steve Gunn, Joan Shelley), the latter of whom also did pre-production arrangement work with the band. Never has Nap Eyes sounded more ferocious. It took them a long time and a long practice to reach this artistic zen, but one gets the feeling throughout Snapshot of a Beginner that this balance is going to hold.
Watch Nap Eyes’ Video for “Mark Zuckerberg” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq2YhOY55zU

Pre-order Snapshot of a Beginner –
https://napeyes.ffm.to/snapshotofabeginner

Snapshot of a Beginner Tracklist:
1. So Tired
2. Primordial Soup
3. Even Though I Can’t Read Your Mind
4. Mark Zuckerberg
5. Mystery Calling
6. Fool Thinking Ways
7. If You Were In Prison
8. Real Thoughts
9. Dark Link
10. When I Struck Out On My Own
11. Though I Wish I Could Nap Eyes Tour Dates:
Wed. March 4 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House %
Thu. March 5 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount %
Fri. March 6 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair %
Sat. March 7 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Sun. March 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts %
Mon. March 9 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
Wed. March 11 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle %
Thu. March 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West %
Fri. March 13 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge %
Sat. March 14 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill %
Sun. March 15 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room %
Mon. March 16 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater %
Tue. March 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge %
Thu. March 19 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos %
Fri. March 20 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre %
Sun. March 22 – Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar (tickets)
Wed. March 25 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (tickets)
Fri. March 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord (tickets)
Sat. March 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar (tickets)
Sun. March 29 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah (tickets)
Mon. March 30 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar (tickets)
Wed. April 1 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda (tickets)
Thu. April 2 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links (tickets)
Sat. April 4 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room (tickets)
Sun. April 5 – Urbana, IL @ Rose Bowl Tavern (tickets)
Mon. April 6 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe (tickets)
Wed. April 15 – London, UK @ The Moth Club
Thu. April 16 – Liverpool, UK @ Leaf
Fri. April 17 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint
Sat. April 18 – Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club
Sun. April 19 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds
Mon. April 20 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin
Wed. April 22 – Paris, FR @ Le Point Ephemere
Thu. April 23 – Brussels, BE @ Volta
Fri. April 24 – Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Sat. April 25 – Utrecht, NL @ Ekko

% = w/ Destroyer

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Nap Eyes releases new alt-country single – “I’m Bad”

Nap Eyes Share New Single “I’m Bad”
Watch The Video Here

I’m Bad Now Out March 9th via Paradise of Bachelors, You’ve Changed, & Jagjaguwar


[still from “I’m Bad” video]
Nap Eyes have unveiled the next single from their forthcoming album, I’m Bad Now. The almost-title track “I’m Bad” deletes the temporal anchor of “now.” Delivered as a second person self-address, this country-rock inclined tune is stylistically different than anything the band has attempted, as well as mockingly self-flagellating. “You’re so dumb,” Nigel Chapman sings to himself, diagnosing his delusions.

Accompanying “I’m Bad” is a video directed by Halifax-based filmmaker Seth Smith, which The FADERpremiered today. “It’s a pretty relaxed, contemplative track. It made me think of someone posing for a portrait,” says Seth. “I was thinking of self-image and the idea of seeing yourself through another person’s eyes. It was a fun set up, and a great group of not-bad people.” Nigel adds, “We’re very happy we got to collaborate with Seth to make this video. He’s an old friend, and an artist and songwriter we’ve all looked up to for many years. Keep an eye out for his feature films The Crescent (2017) and Lowlife (2012), and please listen to the music of Dog Day, if you have the opportunity!”

Watch Nap Eyes’ “I’m Bad” Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9yL81mxljk
I’m Bad Now constitutes the third chapter of an implicit, informal trilogy that includes Whine of the Mystic (2015) and Thought Rock Fish Scale (2016). The brilliantly reductive title is something we’ve heard children announce verbatim when roleplaying the perennial game of heroes and villains, “good guys” and “bad guys.” “I’m bad now,” they declare, but an equivocal binary is implied: it’s only a matter of time or trading places before they have the capacity for good again. Perhaps goodness will manifest in the multiverse, on a different circuit than this faulty, frayed one. Is that faith or fantasy? And what is the difference? The title is also, of course, a sly Michael Jackson appropriation.

While Nigel composes Nap Eyes songs in their inchoate form at home in Halifax, Brad Loughead (lead guitar), Josh Salter (bass), and Seamus Dalton (drums), who live a twelve-hour drive away in Montreal, augment and arrange them, transubstantiating his skeletal, ruminative wafers into discourses that aim to transcend what Nigel self-laceratingly deems “bored and lazy disappointment art.” The band provides ballast and bowsprit to Nigel’s cosmical mind. The nautical metaphor is not just whimsy: Nap Eyes are all Nova Scotians by raising and temperament, acclimated to life on an Atlantic peninsula linked narrowly to the rest of North America. Brad is a physical guitarist whose lyrical grace is matched only by the dark ferocity of his feedback-laced solos, while Josh and Seamus exercise an unassuming mind-meld melodicism and vigor with their gentle thrumming.

Nap Eyes will tour North America and Europe this spring in support of I’m Bad Now, starting with a record release show in their adopted hometown of Montreal on March 8th. A full list of dates is below.

I’m Bad Now comes out March 9th via Paradise of Bachelors (U.S.), You’ve Changed (Canada) andJagjaguwar (rest of world).

Watch Nap Eyes’ “I’m Bad” Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9yL81mxljk

Listen:
“Every Time The Feeling” – https://youtu.be/liXRe7t7v2M
“Dull Me Line” – https://youtu.be/MBcZbvcYGPM

Nap Eyes Tour Dates:
Thu. March 8 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Tue. April 3 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
Wed. April 4 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
Thu. April 5 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
Fri. April 6 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Sat. April 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
Mon. April 9 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Tue. April 10 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
Thu. April 12 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Fri. April 13 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
Sat. April 14 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Mon. April 16 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Tue. April 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Thu. April 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere – Zone One
Fri. April 20 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Mon. April 30 – Copenhagen, DK @ Ideal Bar at Vega
Tue. May 1 – Aarhus, DK @ TAPE
Wed. May 2 – Berlin, DE @ Monarch
Thu. May 3 – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang
Fri. May 4 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (upstairs)
Sat. May 5 – Cologne, DE @ King Georg
Sun. May 6 – Gent, BE @ Dok
Mon. May 7 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
Tue. May 8 – London, UK @ Oslo Hackney
Wed. May 9 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare And Hounds
Thu. May 10 – Glasgow, UK @ Hug & Pint
Fri. May 11 – Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen
Sat. May 12 – Brighton, UK @ Prince Albert
Praise for Nap Eyes:

“This Nova Scotia quartet perfected the art of the chilled-out guitar jam on its previous two albums, triangulating the sweet spot between the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Marquee Moon. If that sounds like your thing, I promise that Nap Eyes will be very your thing.” – Uproxx

“In just four short years, Nap Eyes have made much ado about meaninglessness with rock ‘n’ roll songs that shake just offbeat and smart lyrics wrapped in bemused ennui.” – NPR Music

“‘Every Time The Feeling” is possibly the catchiest, most immediate thing they’ve ever done, a deceptively thoughtful rocker that ambles along with a little extra verve.” – Stereogum

“Their relaxed, scholarly indie-rock imagines the Velvet Underground if they ditched the leathers for wool sweaters. But this languor contrasts with frontman Nigel Chapman’s hyperactive mind, yielding songs that are lucid with laser-like focus and freeze-framed detail.” – Pitchfork

“I’m Bad Now is undoubtedly the four piece’s most confident release so far. Finding a happy medium between the propulsive, twangy jangle of their 2015 debut Whine of the Mystic and the widescreen, subdued ramblings of Thought Rock Fish Scale, the songs on I’m Bad Now are driving doses of pastoral indie rock.” – Noisey

[I’m Bad Now artwork]
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