New York City art-rock icons Battles have shared a new song, the third offering from their forthcoming album Juice B Crypts, out this Friday, October 18th via Warp Records. “Fort Greene Park” is sprawling instrumental ripper, a perfect encapsulation of the Battles sound. Beginning with a beautiful, somber synth melody and building with a steady, controlled pace, the track sees a signature, wailing Ian Williams guitar riff perfectly complemented and amplified with John Stanier’s pounding, in the pocket groove on drums. From there, they slowly add more synth and guitar melodies while the drums continue to pound, ramping up the tension to a thrilling crescendo and emotive release. Fort Greene Park, an instrumental track that emits alternating beams of pitched energy that obfuscate and scramble your thoughts, goes to show that 4 albums into their run as Battles, the duo are still firmly in their own lane and masters of said lane.
The track title also further asserts the New York-centric approach the duo has taken with their 4th record, an approach embodied in a recent live session at the High Snobiety offices that saw the band performing the new track and the other Juice B Crypts single “Titanium 2 Step”. New York City and no-wave legend Sal Principato joined along for a performance of the single as well, watch both those and an interview from the band here:
Following in the wake of its complex, mind-bending predecessors, Juice B Crypts is a sensory overload of information that throws everything you knew about the storied art-rock supergroup into flux once again. The band's redefined line-up of Ian Williams (keys, guitar, electronics) and John Stanier (drums) is at the core of the album, which was produced and mixed by Chris Tabron (Trash Talk, Beyonce, Mobb Deep, Ratking). Marrying synthesizer loops, cut-throat drum patterns, and cyclical riffs, the album flirts with new technology, questions of authenticity, and the technicalities of reinventing the wheel at the eleventh hour. The album boasts a diverse and impressive list of creative collaborators and guests, including Taipei-based psychedelic band Prairie WWWW, Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, Shabazz Palaces, Sal Principato of No Wave icons Liquid Liquid, and tUnE-yArDs.
PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE JUICE B CRYPTS
https://battles.ffm.to/juicebcrypts
BATTLES UPCOMING TOUR DATES
October 22 - Lisbon, PT - MusicBox
October 23 - Berlin, DE - SchwuZ
October 24 - Dublin, IE - Button Factory
October 25 - London, UK - EartH (Hackney Arts Centre)
October 28 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Gorilla
October 30 - Paris, FR - Le Trabendo (Parc de la Villette)
October 31 - Antwerp, BE - TRIX
November 1 - Turin, IT - Club To Club Festival 2019
November 4 - Tokyo, JP - Garden Hall
November 5 - Osaka, JP - Club Quattro
November 6 - Nagoya, JP - Club Quattro
December 1 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
December 2 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne
December 3 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
December 4 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
December 7 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
December 8 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
December 10 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
December 11 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
