UK-based Monotreme Records confirms the upcoming release of Fertile, the second LP from Turin, Italy-based instrumental trio STEARICA.
A powerful, adventurous recording, inspired by the squares of the Arab Spring and Barcelona’s Indignants, Fertile, will be released in the early days of Spring; the season of renewal and fertility in many parts of the world including the region historically known as The Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of some of the earliest human civilizations, and also the scene of the revolutionary political uprisings that swept across the Middle East in 2011 known as the Arab Spring. “Upon arriving in Barcelona to perform at Primavera Sound during the 2011 Indignants protests was the spark that ignited the inspiration for this record, and the Arab Spring revolutions unfolding across the Middle East as we wrote the album further fuelled our inspiration,” issues the band’s Francesco Carlucci. Both the concept of “fertile” as “life-giving” and the revolutionary impulses of the Arab Spring and the Indignants protests in Barcelona provided inspiration for this latest work from STEARICA, who begin their creative process by freely improvising for several hours. The ensuing torrents of sound give birth to finished songs, just as a receding flood leaves behind fertility-bringing silt. Produced by the band’s Francesco Carlucci, Fertile captures the primordial nature of the sound that the trio creates in their dynamic live performances. At times brutal, chaotic, mysterious, tranquil; Fertile is music born of our time: instinctively revolutionary.
The Obelisk today reveals the first listen to Fertile, with an exclusive premiere of the LP’s second track, “Halite,” noting the single, “packs enough heft that fans of Pelican should find something to grasp onto, but is ultimately steered somewhere else, a sweet guitar melody overlaid on top of dense rhythmic turns. STEARICA are never far from this kind of ambience, and their tonal resonance speaks to the central political theme of progress, which clearly they see as a cause worth fighting for.”
Listen to STEARICA’s “Halite” through The Obelisk at THIS LOCATION.
Fertile will be released in Europe on April 13th and in North America April 14th, on CD and digital download formats, as well as a deluxe 180-gram 2xLP double gatefold edition of 500 with a free poster and album CD included inside: 300 copies on red and black vinyl and 200 copies on black. The artwork, by Albanian artist Moisi Guga, beautifully reflects the symbolic imagery of the concept of Fertile. Physical product preorders from the Monotreme Records web shop will also receive free STEARICA pins and stickers while supplies last. Preorders can be placed HERE. More info on the album will be issued in the coming days.
Over the past decade, STEARICA has gained a cult following in the independent music underground, touring and performing live with the likes of Girls Against Boys, NoMeansNo, Dälek, Tarentel, Damo Suzuki, Coliseum, and forming the Acid Mothers Temple and Stearica Orchestra, which recorded a full-length album during the last day of a glorious one-month European tour together. The key to STEARICA‘s success is their powerful and adventurous sound, which is geometrical yet visceral: so intense that there is no need for words, much like The Scream by Edvard Munch. This is especially the case live, whether in clubs, or crowded festivals such as Primavera Sound and Villette Sonique, or in their live film soundtrack of the 1920 silent horror masterpiece Der Golem, which was commissioned by and performed at the National Cinema Museum and winner of the Audience Award in the 2014 Rimusicazioni Film Festival. Their desire to go beyond the traditional concept of a band has also led them to begin work on an ambitious multimedia show. Therefore, the title of their 2008 debut album Oltre (loosely translated as “beyond”) is very appropriate, and the response to the album at home (“…the best record produced in Italy in years” – Il Mucchio) and internationally (UK avant garde magazine The Wire featured STEARICA twice on its covermount CD) confirms this.
STEARICA:
Francesco Carlucci –
Davide Compagnoni – drums, percussions, samples
Luca Paiardi – bass
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