Avalanches – Subways [Live at Primavera 2016]

AVALANCHES-promo-June-2016

While we’re all salivating at the thought of an honest-to-goodness new Avalanches album, I thought I’d share this live gem, a recording of their latest single from last week’s Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Here’s Subways:

Full disclosure: I’ve got a couple friends in the audience, and I’m extremely jealous.

The sound recording isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough to reveal the shimmering cloud disco feel of the new tune. The rubbery funk bass. The pitch shifted chorus. The Bar-Kays Sang and Dance sample (famously used in Will Smith’s 1997 bubblegum hip-hop hit Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It). It all comes together to reinforce the faith I’ve held in The Avalanches for 15 years.

I talked about lead single and music video Frankie Sinatra on last Friday’s weekly update, and I’m sticking with my hypothesis that it’s going to be the Frontier Psychiatrist of the new album, all psychedelic circus funk and madhouse energy. Subways sounds more like the house-y heart of their legendary debut album, Since I Left You.

The upcoming album is named Wildflower and it will be out July 8, 2016. You can preorder it on CD or vinyl or just grab the digital copy when it drops.

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