Merge labelmates Torres and Fruit Bats have announced a collaborative EP, A Decoration, due on August 9 via their shared label home (pre-order). Before that though, it gets an early limited edition vinyl release, available at the Merge 35 festival in July. That fest is also where Torres (aka Mackenzie Scott) and Fruit Bats (aka Eric D. Johnson) will actually meet in person for the first time, as they made this EP remotely. “It was like assembling a cross-continental jigsaw puzzle in the ether,” Eric says.
“Mackenzie and I worked on this in a breezy way where all ideas and sounds were fair game,” he continues. “We each brought a few sketches into the initial ideas pile and treated them in a way like we were doing remixes of each other’s songs. There were no wrong answers. The back and forth continued until the music was in a totally different place from where it began.”
“Sometimes when you do collaborative projects, it ends up just sounding like an amalgam of the two artists,” Eric adds. “This process assured that the final EP kinda sounds like nothing either of us has ever done—it’s a collection of wishful love chants, patiently unfolding fuzzy loops, danceable ambience, and pleas to the universe.”
The first single is “Married For Love,” a somber indietronica song that began its life as a Torres demo. “The recording we’re releasing is synthy, but the demo was darker and had no acoustic instruments on it,” Torres says. “I sent it to him and he turned it into what he described as a Quaker chant. He made it softer and added these beautiful harmonies, something you could almost imagine hearing in a church as opposed to the nightclubby vibe I had going.” Check it out below.
Both Fruit Bats and Torres have upcoming tour dates that cross paths at Merge 35. Fruit Bats play NYC on July 23 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and July 24 at Racket with support from Jenny Owen Youngs, and they also play Hudson Valley fest Meadowlark in September. All dates are listed below.
Eric is also one third of Bonny Light Horseman, who released their new album Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free earlier this month and bring their tour to NYC’s Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight (6/18) and tomorrow (6/19) with Alpha Consumer on night one and Bridget St John on night two.
Fruit Bats — 2024 Tour Dates
Jul 17 Boulder, CO – The Fox Theatre [SOLD OUT]
Jul 18 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheater (w/ Dr. Dog) [SOLD OUT]
Jul 19 Kansas City, MO – Lemonade Park
Jul 20 St. Louis, MO – Big Top Open Air
Jul 21 Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi Annex
Jul 23 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Jul 24 New York, NY – Racket
Jul 25 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle (Merge 35)
Jul 26 Asheville, NC – The Outpost w/TORRES
Jul 27 Lexington, KY – The Burl (Outdoors)
Jul 28 Pelham, TN – The Caverns
Sep 11 Westerly, RI – United Theatre
Sep 12 Portland, ME – Portland House of Music and Events [SOLD OUT]
Sep 13 South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
Sep 14 Stone Ridge, NY – Meadowlark
Sep 20 Stockholm, SE – Maxim (solo)
Oct 18–19 Chicago, IL – My Sweet Midwest
Torres — 2024 Tour Dates
Jul 18 Bloomington, IN – Switchyard Park
Jul 19 Cincinnati, OH – The Woodward Theater
Jul 20 Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
Jul 23 Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House
Jul 25 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle (Merge 35)
Jul 26 Asheville, NC – The Outpost w/Fruit Bats
Jul 27 Macon, GA – Bragg Jam