THE OAKS
Songs For Waiting
(Self-Released)
“With electric guitars and keyboards flavored by accordion, glockenspiel and ethereal vocal harmonies, the Waiting songs maintain the intimacy of the band’s first album. Yet the music also unfolds with a sonic energy that eclipses Our Fathers....the band has refined its approach impressively on songs such as the epic ‘The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter’ and the rhythmically charged ‘Old Bones.’” – The Orlando Sentinel
Following up the release of their previous LP Our Fathers and The Things They Left Behind, The OaKs are establishing healthy roots in the independent music community. On their new album Songs For Waiting, self-released on March 4th, the melodic complexity, lyrical depth, and rhythmic tightness of this new music exceeds anything they have done before.
Here you can preview two new tracks that are sure to blow you away. On the “The Two Calls…” (MP3) Ryan Costello delves into the life of Dietrich Bonheoffer, a German Lutheran minister executed for attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. On the stunningly epic track “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter,”
http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/proj...nelyhunter.mp3 he draws from author Carson McCullers (No Country For Old Men) writing about searching for truth amidst brokenness. In “Masood”
http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/proj...aks-masood.mp3 Costello paints a composite portrait of a teenage friend from Afghanistan, and of Akhmad Shah Masood, an Afghan war hero killed in 2002.
mother-culture publication Paste Magazine recently endorsed Songs for Waiting with a three-star rating and took note of the maturity and richness of the new material, stating: “The OaKs make a great album.... Their success lies in that balance between hyper-literacy and a catholic musical sensibility that finds as much gravitas in a clap-along as a plucked guitar.”
Drummer Matthew Antolick, the backbone of the band (or shall we say trunk of the tree), holds the band together with his incredible percussive precision, pulling inspiration from Moroccan polyrhythms and bebop jazz to John Bohnam’s spacious power. Mixed and engineered with the help of Alan Douches of West West Side Music, whose hand has been on great recordings from Paul Simon’s Graceland to Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House and Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois, Songs For Waiting is a lush and eclectic album that is sure to make a powerful impression on folk, Americana and rock fans alike.
THE OAKS ON FAIR GAME WITH FAITH SALLIE
Catching wind of The OaKs inspiring story and music, Public Radio International’s Fair Game with Faith Sallie recently invited the band up for an interview and in-studio session . Check it out here:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/fa...mediaId=675934
Uncensored Interview recently invited The OaKs up for an extended visit in their New York City offices for an intimate and candid look into each of the band members’ lives and thoughts. Watch those highly amusing clips: Uncensored Interview recently invited The OaKs up for an extended visit in their New York City offices for an intimate and candid look into each of the band members’ lives and thoughts. Watch those highly amusing clips
http://www.uncensoredinterview.com/artists/138-The-Oaks
For a closer look on the process of the recording of Songs For Waiting, be sure to check out this two-part documentary:
part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv9h93s1HKY
part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkwePOf3xcM