Hitchcock And Venus 3 Say Goodnight To Oslo

01/07/09 2:23pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Charmingly eccentric British singer, songwriter and guitarist Robyn Hitchcock will release his second album with The Venus 3 through Yep Roc on Feb. 17.

Goodnight Oslo follows 2006's excellent Ole! Tarantula and features the return of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck (guitar), Scott McCaughey (bass) and Bill Rieflin (drums) as Hitchcock's backing band.

"The boys are all happy to take risks, but they build a steady bridge over every ravine," Hitchcock says.

"Peter can go anywhere I go, and then explain to me how we get out again. Scott is super-warm and the heart of us. Bill is precise, works with a clear mind, dices the beat like a sushi chef, and puts in amazing rolls, too. Like Davy Jones and Graham Nash, I'm the Englishman of the group."

Goodnight Oslo includes guest vocal contributions from The Decemberists' Colin Meloy, Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson and Hitchcock's former Soft Boys and Egyptians bandmate Morris Windsor, as well as horns from Terry Edwards.

The 10-track album was recorded at Wavelab Studio in Tucson, Ariz., Chroma Sound in Seattle and Hitchcock's London, England home. Overdubs were added in New York City and Cardiff, Wales.

Fans who pre-order Goodnight Oslo from Yep Roc's web shop will receive a limited-edition three-song bonus disc that includes: "Up To Our Nex," featured in director Jonathan Demme's film, Rachel Getting Married; "I Just Wanna Be Loved," a new song featuring Grant Lee Phillips; and "Nothing Makes Me Cry," an Ole! Tarantula B-side. A limited-edition vinyl version of Goodnight Oslo will also be available.

Hitchcock first started attracting his dedicated fan base in the late '70s with the neo-psychedelic punk group The Soft Boys, enhanced it with his backing band The Egyptians in the '80s and '90s, and has continued to release solo albums in addition to the Venus 3 records. The 55-year-old shows no signs of slowing down.

Hitchcock is the subject of a pair of films directed by John Edginton for the Sundance Channel: the documentary profile Sex, Food, Death... And Insects, and a concert film documenting the New York stop on the November 2008 tour where Hitchcock played 1984's I Often Dream Of Trains in its entirety. He performed two songs in Rachel Getting Married and has been writing songs with XTC's Andy Partridge.

"You never know when the clock will stop," Hitchcock reflects. "I will probably never time-travel, heal the sick or levitate, which were the natural ambitions I had as a boy.

"But I have trained myself to write songs and perform them, and I'm still developing those abilities. I am past my peak as an animal, but not as an artist. Of course, your work doesn't necessarily improve with age; it just mutates. You have to give birth to those mutations, I guess. So my songs may be no better now than 30 years ago; they're merely alive in a different way, fed on different emotional nutrients, as I am."

Hitchcock recently joined Feist, Martha Wainwright, K.T. Tunstall, Jarvis Cocker, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Vanessa Carlton in the latest Cape Farewell expedition, an environmental-awareness project that sent a group of musicians, artists, writers and scientists on an Arctic sea voyage to experience the effects of global climate change.

"I had a couple of great jams up there with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Jarvis Cocker, and K.T. Tunstall and I recorded some new songs written on the boat," says Hitchcock.

Yep Roc recently issued a pair of box sets, I Wanna Go Backwards and Luminous Groove, which cover much of Hitchcock's '80s output. The label also released expanded individual reissues of most of his albums of that era. Plans are in the works for the release of The Soft Boys' collected works in a box set.

While North American dates are expected, none have been announced. But Hitchcock and The Venus 3, along with opener Catherine Feeny, will play these U.K. shows:

Feb. 7 Glasgow, Scotland @ ABC2
Feb. 8 Newcastle, England @ Academy 2
Feb. 10 Leeds, England @ Brudenell Social Club
Feb. 11 Birmingham, England @ Glee Club
Feb. 12 London, England @ Union Chapel
Feb. 13 Bury, England @ The Met
Feb. 14 Bracknell, England @ South Hill Park Arts Centre
Feb. 16 Brighton, England @ Komedia
Feb. 17 Cambridge, England @ The Junction
Feb. 18 Bristol, England @ The Fleece
Feb. 19 Cardiff, Wales @ The Globe

Here are the songs on Goodnight Oslo:

"What You Is"
"Your Head Here"
"Saturday Groovers"
"I'm Falling"
"Hurry For The Sky"
"Sixteen Years"
"Up To Our Nex"
"Intricate Thing"
"TLC"
"Goodnight Oslo"