Casey Neill & The Norway Rats w/ Downpilot

CASEY NEILL & THE NORWAY RATSSending Up Flares, the fourth record from Casey Neill s most cohesive, cathartic album yet. Created amidst chaos and uncertainty, these songs offer a lifeline to a world in need of balance, shot through with stories about resolve, resilience, wonder, and positive human interaction.The music of Casey Neill s Subterrene which No Depression called a milestone in Neill and companys trajectory thus far while Rolling Stone said (Neills) songs mask their complexities beneath a simple, singalong-worthy surface... these swimming waters have serious depth. In 1997 Casey Neill began a run of three songwriter albums for acoustic label Appleseed Recordings and contributed tracks to their Pete Seeger Tribute along with Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, and Bonnie Raitt. A compilation of his material entitled Memory Against Forgetting was released by Indigo Girl Amy Rays Daemon imprint in 2005. A musical partnership with the late Scottish fiddler/producer Johnny Cunningham led to a far more electric record titled Brooklyn Bridge. To support the new sound, The Norway Rats were formed. At Newport Folk Festival, Casey was part of the all-star Speak Out set with Lucius, Margo Price, Nate Rateliff and Jim James that was released on LP as part of Record Store Day 2018. Casey Neill s: the atmospheric Americana of Goodbye to the Rank and File, the edgier rock sounds of All You Pretty Vandals, and the electro-pop explorations of Subterrene. Now on Sending Up Flares the Portland-based supergroup finds room for everything, turning a wealth of musical influences including folk, art-rock, atmospheric soundscapes, and guitar freak-outs into something singular. I love exploring all of the music I love, says Neill, who even nods to artistic role models like David Bowie, author Ursula K. Le Guin, and filmmaker Wim Wenders in the song Meteor Shower. Sending Up Flares feels like weve reached a point where the band has settled into a natural, nuanced place, he adds. This is who we are. Its what we do.

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