“Make It Right (LIVE)” from The Farewell Circuit on Vimeo.

The New Standards newest release “SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN” is a bit of a departure for the 7-year old ensemble. While still filled with unique covers delivered with their signature panache and tastefully askew musicality, this collection – as signaled by the more downbeat cover art, a beautifully stark portrait of Johnny Cash’s boyhood home by the art-star photographer Alec Soth – feels a bit more serious and lush. Part of this comes from the new use of other musical colors: a dab of strings, a sprinkle of percussion, footstomps and fingersnaps, but also stems undeniably from the musician’s personal travails of the last year, with both Chan and John losing loved ones in 2011. This collection feels deeper, and it covers a lot of ground, from the fully orchestrated tunes like Dan Hick’s “I Scare Myself” and the bossafied “Essence” by Lucinda Williams, to the stark and intimate trio pieces, Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and the arid “The Golden Age” by Beck, produced by Grammy-Award winner Dan Wilson.

THE NEW STANDARDS
Sunday Morning Coming Down
(Princess Records, 2012)

01. Sunday Morning Coming Down     (Kris Kristofferson)
02. This Must Be The Place     (David Byrne/Chris Frantz/Tina Weymouth/Jerry Harrison)
03. Call your Boyfriend     (Robyn/Klas Ahluund/Alexander Fronlund)
04. I Scare Myself     (Dan Hicks)
05. Essence     (Lucinda Williams)
06. No Cars Go     (Regine Chassagnes/Edwin Butler)
07. After The Gold Rush     (Neil Young)
08. The Golden Age     (Beck Hansen)
09. And I Love Her     (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
10. The Book of Love     (Stephin Merritt)
11. One     (Harry Nilsson)
12. You’re Innocent When You Dream     (Tom Waits)

The Small Cities get a little mention in Gourmet Magazine! Check it out here.

Friday March 23 @ Hell’s Kitchen
with Me and My Arrow and Pennyroyal
9pm / $5 / 21+
additional info

Sunday 04/01/12 @ Cause with Lovedrug and Big Lake

Friday 04/20/12 @ Kitty Cat Klub with Caetani and Fire In The Northern Firs

Saturday 04/21/12 @ Tycoons (Duluth) with Actual Wolf

Saturday 04/28/12 @ The Cedar Cultural Center with Patrick Hertz

Friday 05/04/12 @ Triple Rock Social Club with Retribution Gospel Choir

Saturday 05/12/12 @ The Cabin (Eau Claire)

Saturday 03/17/12 @ The Turf Club with Squares, Greycoats and Heartbeats

Friday 03/23/12 @ Hell’s Kitchen with Me & My Arrow and Al Church and State

Friday 04/27/12 @ Kitty Cat Klub with Lost Shepherds

Thanks to Chris Riemenschneider at the StarTribune for covering The Small Cities CD release show! You can read the blurb here.