JEFF The Brotherhood, the project of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, started in a basement in Nashville, TN in 2002. From their basement beginnings they have traced a journey that has taken them around the world several times over, from DIY shows and self-released albums to major label contracts, network television appearances and the international festival circuit, and after a two year hiatus, the band are announcing their 13th full length album, Magick Songs.
The album marks a significant change of direction for the Brotherhood, who have added new band members in Jack Lawrence or Dead Weather/Raconteurs and Kunal Prakash of Viva L’American Death Ray Music, and work with several new collaborators including Daddy Issues’ Jenna Moynihan and Bully’s Reece Lazarus, both of whom feature on the album’s first single Parachute, which is premiering today on Billboard. The track, on which Moynihan takes a co-lead vocal with Jake Orrall, showcases several of the new influences The Brotherhood have incorporated into this release, which range from ’80s and ’90s Japanese experimental music (a passion of Jake Orrall, who recently contributed liner notes to a Light In The Attic compilation of Japanese “New Music,”) to extreme metal. This song in particular takes cues from the Indonesian Gamelan tradition, as Jake explains to Billboard while expanding on the album’s science fiction-inspired themes.
‘The form, structure, and spirituality of ‘Parachute’ is rooted in Indonesian Gamelan traditions, something the band felt a strong magnetism towards during the recording process,’ says Orral. ‘This gives the piece a sort of otherworldly feel, a dreamlike landscape that is further explored through the imagery of the lyrics.
The lyrics for Parachute began with a dream Jamin had that seemed to fall into place within the themes of the album as a whole, an off world interplanetary/interplanar apocalypse, a psychic battle against an impossibly powerful destructive force not only in the physical dimension but in one’s own mind and humanity’s collective consciousness.
The musical themes were born from an improvisation with Kunal Prakash (Viva L’American Death Ray Music, Quintron’s Weather Warlock Band) and Jack Lawrence (Dead Weather, Raconteurs, Greenhornes) and features Jenna Moynihan (Daddy Issues, Fever Blush) on vocals and Reece Lazarus (Bully) on Clarinet.
In support of the release the band have just announced a North American tour that begins in September. Full details can be found below.
Magick Songs was recorded in a bare bones studio, built in Jake Orrall’s Nashville living room, over a 5 month span. It was a unique experience for the brothers, who had recorded each of their preceding 12 full lengths in studios under the guidance of professional engineers.
Tour Dates
Sept 17 Columbus, OH Rumba Cafe
Sept 18 Detroit, MI El Club
Sept 19 Lansing, MI Mac’s Bar
Sept 20 Cleveland, OH Mahall’s
Sept 21 Buffalo, NY Mohawk
Sept 22 Kingston, NY BSP Kingston
Sept 23 Greenfield, MA The Root Cellar
Sept 24 Portsmouth, NH 3S Artspace
Sept 25 Allston, MA Great Scott
Sept 27 Brooklyn, NY Elsewhere Hall
Sept 28 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes
Sept 29 Washington DC Comet Ping Pong
Sept 30 Philadelphia, PA PhilaMOCA
Oct 3 Durham, NC Motorco
Oct 4 Charleston, SC Pour House
Oct 5 Savannah, GA Starland Dairy
Oct 6 Atlanta, GA 529