JONATHAN WILSON
Aiken Promotions presents
JONATHAN WILSON
plus support _ Main Venue _
Tickets priced €18.50 go on sale Friday 15th December at 10am through www.ticktmaster.ie & usual outlets nationwide
Jonathan Wilson announces date for Whelans, Dublin in support of his spring-time release of Rare Birds.
“Jonathan’s talent – “mastery” may be more apt – places him among a rarefied class of musical auteur. You’d be hard pressed to find a comparison, or contemporary for that matter, that would do his recent work justice.” – Josh Tillman
“To say Jonathan Wilson plays many instruments well would be an understatement. He plays with a rare combination of extreme technical prowess and elusive soul. Maybe it’s his southern roots honed through many years as a session player and producer in LA or just some happy accident of nature but in any event it is a fantastic thing to witness. As a songwriter he is always exploring and pushing the limits while managing to remain a sturdy link to many of the most sacred elements that made the psychedelic rock n roll of the 60’s and 70’s so magical to begin with.” – Conor Oberst
“Jonathan Wilson’s new record brings together as much a poet as a man adept in the art of production. The result is yet another unplaceable album of sparkling timelessness.” – Laura Marling
Jonathan Wilson had a busy 2017, producing Father John Misty’s grammy nominated Pure Comedy and touring arenas around the globe as a guitarist and vocalist for Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters (for whom he also contributed to the lauded Is This The Life We Really Want? album.) Wilson also saw widespread acclaim heaped on Karen Elson’s sophomore LP Double Roses, which he recorded with her in Los Angeles in 2016.
But it’s not looking like Wilson is going to get much of a rest in 2018 either, as he’ll be continuing with the worldwide Waters tour and is set to release his own new solo album Rare Birds in the spring. The highly anticipated long player – which features backing vocals from Lana Del Rey, Josh Tillman, fellow Roger Waters bandmates Lucius and an extraordinary musical gift from otherworldly Brian Eno collaborator Laraaji – will be released through Bella Union worldwide.
Although much of the album is comprised lyrically of meditations on a failed relationship and its aftermath, Wilson insists that Rare Birds is not really a concept album. “It’s meant more as a healing affair, a rejuvenation, a reconciliation, for others, and for me. I wanted to balance personal narrative with the need I feel for calming healing music. I think we need journeys in sound, psychedelic gossamer-winged music that includes elements consciously and purposefully to incite hope, positivity, longing, reckless abandon and regret. It’s all in there.” And, for this one, music critics will need to retire the comparisons to heritage rockers and Laurel Canyon troubadours as they’re hardly useful anymore. Wilson’s new sound takes a synthetic/acoustic, best-of-both-worlds analog/digital hybrid approach to achieve the complexity, sonic density and glossy hi-fi coating of Rare Birds. Heard for the first time on a Jonathan Wilson album are the sounds of synthesizers and drum machines.
Wilson describes Rare Birds as a “maximalist,” high density album more influenced by 80s British production more than anything to do with Southern California in 1970s. Of Rare Birds as a whole Wilson says, “I want my music to hit people like an emotional tidal wave. With my song writing it’s never about a clever couplet or smug turn of phrase, it’s about the intensity, the impact. Besides, we’re all fishing downstream from Townes Van Zandt anyway, so the only thing left to do is go BIG.”
TICKETS
ON SALE FRI 15th DEC, 10AM: €18.50 available online from WAV Tickets or Lo-Call 1890 200 078 (1-7pm M-F)
– 50c per ticket service charge applies on phone, internet or creditcard bookings. Final ticket price may be higher from other outlets. Strictly over 18′s, I.D. may be required.