Photo Credit: Olivia Bee
Whitney, the Chicago-based band led by vocalist/drummer Julien Ehrlich and guitarist Max Kakacek, will release their sophomore album, Forever Turned Around, on August 30th via Secretly Canadian. On the follow up to their much-beloved debut, 2016’s Light Upon the Lake, Ehrlich and Kakacek grapple with the anxiety and acceptance that time is limited and navigate questions of mortality, doubt, love, and friendship. It’s an album about partnership — romantic, familial and communal, but most importantly a love in friendship: the bonds between two best friends and creative partners and the joy and stress that comes with it. First played on SiriusXMU, lead single ‘Giving Up’ is its triumphant opener – a heart-rending and relatable song about the ups and downs of long-term relationships.
Forever Turned Around was co-produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Hand Habits) and Jonathan Rado (Weyes Blood, Father John Misty). It came together over several sessions, with its earliest material written while on tour, but truly revealed itself when they reunited with original rhythm guitarist Ziyad Asrar in his basement Chicago studio—the same place where they hashed out much of Light Upon The Lake. While recording, the band enlisted Chicago musicians Lia Kohl and OHMME’s Macie Stewart to provide strings, their lush swells colourfully accenting the arrangements throughout the record.
Whitney has long been a full-fledged live band with keyboardist Malcolm Brown, guitarist Print Chouteau, bassist Josiah Marshall, and trumpeter Will Miller, along with Asrar who’s returning to the fold on their upcoming tour. The band will appear at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival in July before embarking on a lengthy European and North American tour, including two nights at Brooklyn Steel in New York City, The Wiltern in Los Angeles, and more. Tickets for all shows are on sale now.
Forever Turned Around Tracklist:
- Giving Up
- Used To Be Lonely
- Before I Know It
- Song For Ty
- Valleys (My Love)
- Rhododendron
- My Life Alone
- Day & Night
- Friend of Mine
- Forever Turned Around
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