HELLO OCHO ANNOUNCES NEW LP IN PORTUGUESE
SHARES FIRST SINGLE “IN PORTUGUESE“
IN PORTUGUESE OUT APRIL 1
Atlanta psychedelic mainstays Hello Ocho are proud to announce their sophomore album In Portuguese, which will see a release on April 1. To ring in the announcement, the band has shared “In Portuguese” from the album, which is available to stream or embed HERE. Preorders for In Portuguese are now available on the band’s new site, and with a vinyl preorder comes a free download of an improvised studio EP called The Slippery Hand. Expect new music and videos from Hello Ocho very soon.
The band also has a run of tour dates planned that will take them up the east coast, through the midwest and through Toronto and Montreal before heading back down to Atlanta. The current list of tour dates as it stands is below, with more dates being added shortly.
Totally unrestrained creative expression is a standard that any artist would strive for. It just so happens that Hello Ocho has long since left that landmark in the rear view, hurtling through the cosmos like a psychedelic freighter with little regard for traditional song and genre forms.
The latest product of their efforts, the self-released sophomore album In Portuguese, is a sprawling, dramatic gem, a kaleidoscopic juggernaut of strange and brave proportions. Amidst the album’s warm, enveloping dissonance, subtle nods to pop, jazz, tropicalia, krautrock, and a profound cinematic Scope® find their way to the surface. Comparisons to Can, Deerhoof, Stereolab and even Connan Mockasin aren’t unwarranted, but Hello Ocho pledges allegiance to no one sound or style – they’ve made it their mission to absorb all they can from every corner of the sonic universe, if only to see what comes out the other end.
The rich and varied story of Hello Ocho stretches back to 2010, when the band was a trio comprised of Chris Yonker (vocals, guitar), John Gregg (drums) and Clinton Callahan (bass). At that time, though, the band still had a fourth unofficial member – the computer. On their 2013 self-titled debut, the songwriting process consisted of each member finding a niche within a backing track used to set the mood, but the group has since ditched the relative comfort of computers and backing tracks in favor of newer members Chris Childs (vibraphone/percussion) and Christian Shepherd (synths, vocals). In Portuguese also features frequent collaborator Peter Webb on the Rhodes piano. The inclusion of Childs and Shepherd led to more organic compositions, and it opened the floodgates for the wild, tuneful experimentation that has become a hallmark of their sound.
Hello Ocho’s members have all come a long way since their humble beginnings – Yonker and Shepherd now run the prominent Atlanta art gallery and venue Mammal Gallery, and the other members perform in a dizzying array of other groups (Faun and a Pan Flute, Small Reactions, Aalborg Group, Palm Lines). Childs even conducts his own 28-piece chamber orchestra, the aptly named Chris Childs Orchestra. For all the changes, though, the one constant has been the calculated (yet somehow still reckless) abandon with which the group approaches songwriting.
In the recent past, the group was hand-picked to play the second installment of Atlanta upstart (and SBTRKT collaborator) Raury‘s festival, Raurfest 2015, as well as receiving coveted nods from NME, Nerdist and DIY Mag. Having already toured through most of the country, the group has now set its sights on capturing the ears of discerning listeners on the West coast and in Canada. In the meantime, be on the lookout for irreverent videos, psilocybin-inflected EPs and of course, the aggressively progressive tunes found on In Portuguese.
In Portuguese tracklist:
1. Irish Wrist Watch
2. Tear Wagon
3. In Portuguese
4. Lurky Murky
5. Nail Tractor
6. Hallo Gallo
7. Baker
8. Canadian Sorry
9. Orange Peel
Hello Ocho tour dates:
4/1 – Mammal Gallery (album release show) – Atlanta, GA
4/7 – Queen Ave. – Nashville, TN
4/17 – Making Box – Guelph, ON
4/19 – Smiling Buddah – Toronto, ON
4/20 – L’escogriffe – Montreal, QC
4/21 – Poisson Noir – Montreal, QC
4/28 – Tubecats – Hadley, MA
5/4 – Velvet Lounge – Washington, DC
5/4 – Velvet Lounge – Washington, DC
5/7 – Go Bar – Athens, GA
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