Haunting Art-Rock From A Grave With No Name

A Grave With No Name, the project of multi-instrumentalist & songwriter Alexander Shields is announcing his new album Passover, set for release Jan 19 via Forged Artifacts. The first single from the record ‘Wreath’ is out now. In the words of Shields: "‘Wreath’ is  exploration of the relationship between humanity and the land which we inhabit. Whereas nature once provided mankind with a source of spirituality, education and sustenance, it has now been tamed, despoiled and commodified, and is used to justify the waging of wars, prejudice, and greed. The song asks for a moral awakening, and a return to a simpler, more considered way of living."

For some years now A Grave With No Name has been mining a distinctive vein of haunted art-rock, to spellbinding effect. His sixth album Passover is his most vital and poetic release to date, presenting the artist’s wide-ranging musical approaches so far, and forging skilful, at times surprising, new sounds from those unique textures.

Shields wrote the songs, which he describes as a set of “interlocking short-stories”, during a stay in his family home in the wake of his grandmother’s death - a home he shared with her throughout his young life. As such, a spectral presence makes itself known throughout Passover, with themes such as the mortality of loved ones, and returning to the bosom of the family being explored, alongside a burning questioning of the comforts of religion and ceremony, and our attempts to reconcile the elemental with the domestic.

Whereas previous records such as 2014’s Feathers Wet, Under the Moon saw him working with a large ensemble of players including members of Lambchop, Silver Jews, and guitarist William Tyler, Passover reflects its intimate themes by pairing Shields with childhood friend, drummer Daniel Paton, and brings aboard bassist Ben Reed who worked on Frank Ocean’s blond(e) and Endless albums. Recording once again at London’s Holy Mountain studios with producer Misha Hering, Shields creates meticulously crafted tapestries by weaving field recordings, and ambient sounds through the looms of melodic tape-warped country-rock, haunted skeletal folk, and lonesome string ballads.

See A Grave With No Name live:

23rd Jan - Olympic Cafe, Paris FR

25th Jan - The Waiting Room, London UK