There is a blistering, hypnotic, exciting new album by The Icarus Line titled All Things Under Heaven that drops today. In fact, it’s dropping right into your lap, right here, right now if you are willing to just hit play.
All Things Under Heaven is a ferocious beast. Pulverizing. Intense. A snarling motherfucker of an album. I just just finished listening to it and it’s a real headfuck. (Alternately, it’s like having your head smashed against the sidewalk repeatedly, but I mean that only in the best possible way. I’m already going back for more of this punishment)
Last night, Icarus Line mainman Joe Cardamone sent out the following missive announcing the release of All Things to the faithful:
My People
It’s Christmas eve for everyone who gives a fuck about The Icarus Line. Tomorrow All Things Under Heaven will be released into the wild. The savage hordes can rip it to shreds and devour the carcass. I don’t need to get into the details here but it was a long few years leading up to this release. We had to endure some of the most trying circumstances even set in front of us, and that my friends is saying a lot. I am positive all of these moments are captured in this document that we have made. There was no better way of explaining it, so the record had to be made. When it was done being recorded I knew that we could have gone no further, not at that moment. Everything was left there on the tape. I hardly look back on these records we make. It’s not my record to experience any longer, making it was enough. Now it’s offered to you.
You will have a chance to stream the album in its entirety courtesy of the great folks at Dangerous Minds. They will have it streaming for some period of time then it will shut off. I do want to raise this notion though; if you think it’s a compelling ride, buy yourself a copy. Buy a hard copy. All Things is made to be experienced in full, much like a film. It will hardly make any sense if you skip through or listen in the style that we are quickly being programmed to do. The fidelity of a stream will somewhat cut you off from the contents and you will have robbed yourself of a total immersion. If you have a long drive to do, this is made for that. Try replacing the meal that a film was supposed to fill. Having a full definition CD or LP will offer you a window into some real shit. This document is walking into hospitals and watching people fall away from light. It’s also heavily propelled by unconditional love for the subjects that offered its muse. Nothing is an accident but yet it all seems like one big accident. Important things get by us every day. All Things Under Heaven is a pure cut. If you have had the itch now is the time to scratch it. This will be an exercise in burning the past. Tell the world around you and do not miss out.
Tomorrow we give you the whole heart, the real shit, new old language, the stuff that’s bent back into shape. See you all very soon.
Note the part about listening to All Things Under Heaven during a road trip. I’d say don’t put it on until the wee hours. Wait until about 2am and then let this demon posses you.
I asked Joe Cardamone a few questions via email this morning:
Richard Metzger: Most artists are starting to orient their careers more to the single, whereas this is a two-record longplayer. What sort of journey is the listener in store for?
Joe Cardamone: The listener is in store for something more akin a film in spirit. Although there are some near bite-sized scenes on this LP, most of it was conjured in the moment that it was recorded. In that sense we didn’t have a hell of lot of control over how long some of the pieces would be. We just rattled the room until shit was happening.
Where does your lyrical subject matter come from?
Joe Cardamone: My high school best friend who ended up on meth and in the mental ward. My man’s best friend who died on me. Another best friend from back in the day who started running hard on dope and threw it all away. He gave me all his belongings one day, because he knew he might die soon and he wanted his shit to be in safe hands. Basically just the people I came up with who would have never had anything written about them if I didn’t write about them. That and the war of good vs evil that is raging in the world right now. Seems to be a battle for the soul of the planet.
Speaking of a burnt past, a few weeks ago my old buddy Travis Keller and I did a lengthy conversation about the road leading to this very moment. I haven’t heard it but people say it’s a good listen.
The great heroic painter Joe Coleman is on the record. How did that come about?
Joe Cardamone: I have been a fan of Joe for some years and I had always loved that speech. While making this record that speech kept playing in the lounge at the studio, I think dvd was stuck in the player. My friend Asia Argento showed up one day to hear the progress of this very album and I knew Joe had drawn a portrait of her. I asked her if she knew him and she did, very well. Asia put me in touch with Joe and I went to visit him in NY to ask for permission on the clip. When I met Joe at his place in NY he was gracious and we got along like gangbusters. By the end of the night he was down to let the clip be part of the album. I am honored.
What are you doing to promote the record?
Joe Cardamone: We are holding a ceremony to celebrate the release this Friday here in our home of Los Angeles. Everyone is invited but it will be especially holy to have those who have had some little hand in its creation at hand. You may not even know that you are on the record, but if you think you might be, then you probably are. I write about the folks that I know because no one else is writing about them and because the lives they lead amaze me at every turn. We will broadcast the full LP at some point in the evening and let it soak up the air. Endurance time and party time. And we’re touring.
The Icarus Line—2015 Tour Dates
Oct 30 - Las Vegas, NV LVCS
Nov 1 - San Francisco, CA Social Hall SF
Nov 3 - San Diego, CA The Music Box
Nov 4 - Anaheim, CA House of Blues
Nov 7 - El Paso, TX Speaking Rock Entertainment Center
Nov 9 - Dallas, TX South Side Music Hall
Nov 13 - Clear Lake, IA The Surf Ballroom
Nov 18 - Louisville, KY Diamond Pub & Billiards
Nov 20 - St. Charles, IL The Arcada Theatre
Nov 21 - Nashville, TN City Winery
Nov 25 - New York, NY Gramercy Theater
Dec 3 - Medina, MN Medina Entertainment Center
Dec 11 - Houston, TX Scout Bar
Dec 12 - Dallas, TX Gas Monkey
Below, The Icarus Line performing material from their Slave Vows album taped at Valley Recording Company in Burbank on November 22, 2014.