Today, the GOLDEN DREGS (real name Benjamin Woods) shares a new offering from his forthcoming record, On Grace & Dignity, out February 10th via 4AD. Like its predecessors ‘American Airlines‘ and ‘Sundown Lake,’ ‘Before We Fell From Grace‘ is deeply rooted in Woods’ rich baritone, his voice beautifully laying the foundation for the song to crescendo into a joyous chamber-pop anthem. The video is equally as striking, Joe Wheatley creating a richly moving black-and-white narrative on the fragility of death.
Releasing on 10th February, Woods‘ third album, On Grace & Dignity, considers his home and what it means to be shaped by a place – in this instance, Truro, Cornwall’s capital, home to a rare three-spired cathedral, a peaceful river and a lot of empty shops and flimsy out-of-town housing estates. In among the personal reflections on loss of innocence and inferiority, Woods spins subtly interweaving narratives about survival, desperate acts of violence, loss and the limitations of community in the face of rapacious gentrification. On Grace & Dignity unfolds at a graceful pace and is grounded by Woods’s deep voice, which seems to resonate from his feet. Written, recorded and produced by Woods from his South London home and childhood bedroom in Truro, it was mixed by Ali Chant (Perfume Genius, Aldous Harding) who provided additional production.
For the On Grace & Dignity visuals, Woods commissioned Bristol-based model-maker Edie Lawrence to construct an HO-scale fictional Cornish town. Christened Polgras, the 8ft by 4ft model features a viaduct, an estuary, a supermarket, new-build houses and industrial buildings; every song from On Grace & Dignity is represented by a scene in the town. “There are different parts of the experience of growing up in Cornwall in there,” he says. “Some of it was from me looking at it when I was down there that winter, and some of it was me harking back to the experience of growing up there. It’s defined by that sense of duality, of coexisting realities,” he explains. “You’re geographically so far away, and it has a strong identity of its own, as well as a different landscape. It’s so rugged and bleak, but beautiful – which is what I really like in music.”
Pre-order/Pre-save the GOLDEN DREGS – On Grace & Dignity: https://goldendregs.
the GOLDEN DREGS – ‘Before We Fell From Grace’ (Official Video)
Stream / Download: https://goldendregs.
2. American Airlines
3. How It Starts
4. Before We Fell From Grace
5. Not Even The Rain
6. Eulogy
7. Josephine
8. Vista
9. Sundown Lake
10. Beyond Reasonable Doubt
