BLONDE REDHEAD at the Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen West), Saturday (November 29), 9 pm. $21.50. HT, RT, SS, TF.
After 19 years, eight albums and three record labels, Blonde Redhead decided it was the right time to strike out on their own.
First, they cut ties with 4AD, the venerable London-based label they’d called home since 2004.
Second, they pooled their resources – i.e., money made from constant touring and a Coach perfume commercial featuring their song Girl Boy – to self-finance the LP.
Third, they kept it a secret for as long as possible.
“It felt like the simplest thing to do,” says drummer Simone Pace over the phone between set-up and sound check at a recent gig in North Carolina. “We just wanted to record without thinking about who will be involved and why. We didn’t want input from anyone.”
The result, Barragán, is a quiet, atmospheric album- totally different for the New York trio also made up of Japanese-born vocalist/guitarist Kazu Makino and Pace’s twin brother, Amedeo Pace, on guitar, who previously forayed into post-punk, shoegaze and lush synth pop.
Barragán owes its minimalist sound to producer Drew Brown, whose vision for the album’s instrumentation was a strict no digital, all analog policy from the get-go.
Without the luxury of modern technology, the band had to track down an organ, a 1950s-era Binson Echorec delay machine, the rare Yamaha CS-60 synthesizer and a harpsichord, which involved a treasure-hunt-like journey that led to a house in suburban New Jersey.
“We met Drew on [2010’s] Penny Sparkle and we really liked working with him. Once we started, there was no turning back,” says Pace. “It was difficult because he was very adamant about certain things, but it was worth it.”
After they shopped the finished record around, music publisher and services company Kobalt put it out in September.
Its release, combined with the fact that the band’s been together for over two decades, had some critics wondering if Blonde Redhead had finally gone soft?
“Compared to the first two records, yeah, totally.” says Pace. “But those critics should probably come to a show. We can play songs from our first record and our last record, and there will be no change in energy. It will be a smooth thing.”
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