Back in September we teased a forthcoming new full-length from Pittsburgh folk rock outfit vireo with the single ‘catching minnows’. “Turning to the natural world in the face of personal challenges, the track could be said to embody the vireo project as a whole,” we wrote of the song. “One attuned to the curative power of the environment and the small beauties therein, packed full of brightness and wonder as though written in honour of the joy of being alive.”
Well, it turns out the album is titled The Great Golden Gloom and is set for release next month. vireo have now returned with a brand new single to further our whet appetites. Originating in a simple banjo loop, the track came to life through a gradual process of deepening, with lead Chris Beaulieu and drummer Anthony Capozzi staying up all night adding different layers of sound to the loop using whatever was to hand. Multiple guitars enter the fray, as well as bells and a floor tom, not to mention a pie plate mic’d through a distorted amp and recordings of scribbling and paper being torn. “From that base, we sculpted a song,” Beaulieu explains. “Suzanne [Gomes] added flute and vocoder vox to tie it all together.” A fitting process for a track described as concerning the limits of one’s capabilities, and one which creates a sound as rich as anything vireo have put out to date.
The Great Golden Gloom will be released on the 14th November.