I Draw Slow Announce Self-Titled Album Out Sept 9 via Compass Records
I DRAW SLOW
— DUBLIN-BASED AMERICANA BAND —
ANNOUNCES NEW SELF-TITLED, FULL-LENGTH ALBUM
OUT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
VIA COMPASS RECORDS
LEAD SINGLE
“COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION”
OUT THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 12
Above: I DRAW SLOW Album Art
“Flat out brilliant....this band is really going places.” — Folk Radio
“Gritty as it is beautiful.” — CMT
NASHVILLE, TN (August 10, 2022) — No band more successfully bridges the gap between Dublin and Nashville than Americana band I Draw Slow. Sitting squarely at the crossroads of Irish and Appalachian music, this Dublin-based group — fronted by brother/sister songwriting team Dave Holden (guitar/vocals) and Louise Holden (vocals) — is gearing up to release their deeply personal new self-titled album, I DRAW SLOW. Set for a September 9 release, the 10-track album will be available digitally across all DSPs and digital download as well as physical CD via Compass Records.
Pre-Save / Pre-Order the album here.
The album’s lead single, “Copenhagen Interpretation,” was penned about bringing words back down to earth. The song, out Friday, August 12, found its inspiration from the George Orwell quote: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Guided by subtle banjo picking, the song floats on an early ‘70s soundscape.
Pre-Save “Copenhagen Interpretation” here.
Like most artists during the pandemic, the group was forced to put their tour career on hold in the spring of 2020. Independently they suffered the loss of loved ones to COVID and weathered the subsequent months of grief. When the band was finally able to reunite in 2021 in a farmyard studio in the Dublin mountains to record their new album they found themselves and their music fundamentally changed. The traditional Irish and Appalachian influences that informed I Draw Slow’s prior releases were augmented by a much wider range of influences, including sixties pop, cinematic soundscapes and the funereal jazz of New Orleans.
Lyrically, the new tracks pulled storytelling and tradition apart. “The new music represents tradition in the mixed up way that people live now,” Louise shares, “With the stories we tell to stop ourselves from going crazy and the false memories we build ourselves upon.”
Ultimately, the trauma of the pandemic is what defines the band's eponymously titled new album. Together with bandmates, Konrad Liddy (upright bass), Colin Derham (banjo), and Adrian Hart (fiddle), Louise and Dave Holden explore a broader, and darker, musical palette on the new tracks, yielding unexpected and musically satisfying results. I DRAW SLOW captures a pivotal moment in a shared human tragedy and offers a stunning portrait of the beauty that I Draw Slow salvaged from their collective pain.
With the release of their new album, I Draw Slow further cements their reputation as one of the most interesting groups on the Americana/roots scene. Coaxing the past into the present, they have created a very personal sonic tapestry that has drawn fans on both sides of the pond and earned them slots on some of the most important festival stages across North America including MerleFest, Edmonton Folk Festival, RockyGrass and WinterGrass. With the expansive musical platform of their newest release as a launching point, the possibilities for where I Draw Slow’s musical journey will take them next is limitless.
Tracklisting for I DRAW SLOW:“Bring Out Your Dead”
“Copenhagen Interpretation”
“About A Bird In An Airport Terminal”
“Dearly”
“Dublin Bay, Christmas Day”
“Crosses”
“Trouble”
“Queen Of The Wasteland”
“A chuid den tsaol”
“Leisureplex”
Above: I Draw Slow; credit: Cormac Figgis
L to R: Colin Derham, Louise Holden, Dave Holden, Konrad Liddy, Adrian Hart