The Features are a Nashville-based combo signed
to Kings of Leon's label, Serpents and Snakes. Their
music has been featured in ad campaigns for Asics Shoes and their current
single, "How It Starts," is currently being featured in commercials
for the 2013 Ford Mustang.
The album that contains "How It Starts" is
entitled Wilderness, and it is being released today, June
5th, for the first time physically. It originally received a digital release in
2011, and a new, expanded version with extra tracks is being released on Amazon
and iTunes today, as well. It is being streamed all week for free on AOL
Music as part of their Listening Party series.
Wilderness quickly establishes the
Nashville-based combo as one of the most exciting and imaginative bands working
today. Songs like "Another One" and "Fats Domino" are
marvels of pop ingenuity, animated by vivid lyrics, unshakable hooks, and
experimental soul. Wildernessis an amalgamation of influences
and inspirations - spanning elements of Krautrock, indie, psychedelia, and
classic AOR - to conjure up The Features' own inimitable,
indescribable sound.
The album, which follows 2009's acclaimed Some Kind
Of Salvation, began coming together upon The Features' return
home after a lengthy 2010 tour alongside Manchester Orchestra. Pelham and
fellow Features Roger Dabbs (bass), Mark Bond (keyboards), and Rollum Haas
(drums) enjoyed a brief domestic hiatus before quickly hitting the practice
space to woodshed new material. Wilderness was
produced with Brian Carter, who recorded their 2003 release, The
Beginning EP, and engineer Craig Alvin at Carter's Paradox Productions
Recording Service in Nashville, Tennessee.
The result of the month-long sessions is as painstakingly
crafted as it is full-on, with Pelham's distinctive songcraft expertly matched
by the band's sonic inventiveness. "Big Mama" and
"Rambo" had already been staples of The Features' live
show, while tracks like the swingin' psych-pop opener "Content" were
spontaneously created in the studio. Other highlights include the
prog-fueled "Golden Comb," with its dynamic tempo changes and
multipart arrangement, and the howling rocker, "Kids," which
brandishes the Tennessean band's native gift for their own version of meaty,
big beat boogie.
"I feel like we walk this fine line," says
singer/guitarist Matt Pelham. "We're not weird enough for a
certain crowd and we're a little bit too out there for the other crowd. We
fall in the middle somewhere between mainstream and hipster, which puts us in
this weird place, but we're all pretty happy to be here."
Since releasing The Beginning EP in 2003, The
Features have assembled quite the catalog of accomplishments, spanning
single releases on the UK's trendsetting Fierce Panda label, two well-received
albums, and a long history of tours as headliners as well as supporting such
like-minded artists as Manchester Orchestra and The Black Keys. As their new
album Wildernessdemonstrates, the spirit of musical
adventure continues to both define and motivate The Features.
Wilderness Track Listing:
Content
Kids
Another One
Big Mama Gonna Whip Us Good
How It Starts
Rambo
Offer Up
Golden Comb
Fats Domino
Love Is...
Chapter III
The Features Tour Dates:
June 8 | St. Louis, MO: Firebird
June 9 | Chicago, IL | Ribfest
June 15 | Chattanooga, TN | Riverbend Music Festival
June 28 | Milwaukee, WI | Milwaukee Summerfest
July 14 | Louisville, KY | Forecastle Festival
August 8 | Jackson Hole, WY | Snow King Ball Park
August 11 | Forest Grove, OR | Americana Fest @
McMenamin's
August 12 | Bend, OR | Bend Summer Concert Series
October 14 | Austin, TX | Austin City Limits Festival
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