Joan of Arc Sprouts New “Flowers”

Latest chapter in never-unfolding evolution for the beloved indie band.

By Blurt Staff

On June 9th Polyvinyl Record Co. will release the new full length album by prolific Chicago band Joan of Arc titled Flowers.  Although most bands struggle with distancing themselves from the seemingly infinite number of musicians who have come before, when Joan of Arc set about writing its new record the innovative group had only one past example to compete with: itself.

"I think it's harder for a band to make a tenth record, than it is to make a first record," says Tim Kinsella, who remains the one permanent member of the Joan of Arc lineup. "There is more freedom to be daring, but there is also your own standard to live up to and surpass."

It's obvious that Kinsella has succeeded in doing just that. Given the unconventional music style that characterizes the group's discography, Flowers pushes new boundaries by housing 12 tracks that seamlessly glide together in a unique fashion. Here, the band weaves organized, structured songs with frequent instrumental stretches to create a very natural flow from start to finish.

Over the course of a year in four different sessions with four different lineups, Flowers evolved into what it is now. Recorded and mixed by Graeme Gibson (Califone, The 1900s, Catfish Haven) at Chicago's Clava Studios, the album encapsulates the idea of improvisation and growth perfectly.  In late 2008 Kinsella and the latest incarnation of his live band entered the studio to complete the last batch of songs that would round out Flowers.  With no instruments, and hardly any completed songs the group simply did what felt right, using what was available to all the musicians who had recorded there previously - pianos, acoustics, and synthesizers - to create a new batch of music after only two days.

Wanting to counteract the raw emotional overtones of Boo Human, Kinsella describes Flowers as "more like sculpting a garden as a whole. Even before we started, we knew Flowers would have to be a little cooler and more formal." 

Just as the title Flowers could suggest the album is an offering for everything in life - love and death, celebration and consolation - it also could be read in the sense of growth. Birthing new forms and techniques are what make Joan of Arc who they are, and Flowers illustrates this idea of maturation perfectly.

This experience summarizes the spirit of Joan of Arc. It is a mentality that embraces contradictions and tears apart common musical structures only to rebuild them without a blueprint. Joan of Arc continue to succeed in doing what many strive for with a new album: creating an obscure combination of familiar, obvious ideas while sticking with the notion that "if it feels good, do it."

Tracklisting:

1. Fogbow
2. The Garden of Cartoon Exclamations
3. Flowers
4. Fasting
5. Explain Yourselves #2
6. Tsunshine
7. A Delicious Herbal Laxative
8. Explain Yourselves
9. Table of the Laments
10. Fable of the Elements
11. Life Sentence / Twisted Ladder
12. The Sun Rose