LA slowcore vets Idaho have announced their first album in 13 years, Lapse, the followup to 2011’s You Were A Dick. It comes out May 31 via Arts & Crafts (pre-order). It was made by founder/leader Jeff Martin and newer guitarist Robert Fronzo, and here’s what Jeff has to say about it:
Recording Lapse commenced on January 1st, 2022, following a lively New Year’s Eve at the Out There bar in 29 Palms. Nursing a rare hangover, I welcomed guitarist Robby, fresh from LA, into my mother’s desert house amidst much excited barking from my pit bull Thurmon and producer/engineer Bill’s pit/lab mix Maggie. Over the next few months, this record took shape, inadvertently paying homage to Idaho’s past, largely influenced by my collaboration with Robby — whom he humorously refers to as the “Steely Dan model.” Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, Robby reached out to me on Instagram and offered his assistance in completing the demo snippets I was sharing online… Every record since ‘Hearts of Palm’ (2000) has been more of a solo effort so the synergy of collaboration is a cool thing to have back in the fray. The high desert setting lent its voice to this LP… how could it not? The colors, textures and endless sky sunsets. Thank you mother Lynda for letting us desecrate your sanctuary for the good part of ’22. The large living room afforded us a chance to spread out, get loud and let the sound waves develop the way they should. As fate would have it, Bill had to depart, leaving me with the task of mixing the album alone. I often wonder if a professional could have achieved a better result, but nevertheless, I take pride in finally breaking Idaho’s dry spell.
The first single is “On Fire,” a classic-style slowcore song that sounds like something Idaho could’ve put out in the ’90s and sounds great amidst the genre’s current revival too. Jeff himself says it “sounds like Idaho circa ‘96 when we were a full band.” Check out the song and its video (which Jeff directed and shot on super 8 and 16mm film) below.
Idaho also revealed that they’ll release a vinyl box set with their long-out-of-print first three albums, Year After Year (1993), This Way Out (1994), and Three Sheets to the Wind (1996), plus a “bonus disc of rare and unreleased material from the era,” later this year. Stay tuned for more on that.
There’s also a new Idaho documentary, Traces of Glory, that screened in select locations last year.
Idaho co-founder John Berry passed away in 2016.
Tracklist
1. Kamikaze
2. On Fire
3. West Side
4. Heaven On Earth
5. Heat Seek
6. Somehow
7. Snakes
8. Across The Sky
9. Throw The Game
10. 29 Palms