If you liked A Jackal's Wedding, good news: Westerman is readying a companion release. The new four-song EP Reception is sourced from the Athens, Greece-based artist's sessions with producer Marta Salogni, but according to Westerman they differ from the main album in important ways. Here's his evocative explanation:
These songs were recorded as part of a larger whole in winter on an island in the middle of Lake Iseo in a newly acquired building without heating, in the snow. It was put forward that there should be an extended version of A Jackal’s Wedding. These songs can be heard as photo negatives of the songs on that record, with the heat having been exchanged for cold.
Maybe it's just because I was blogging about Brandon Flowers this morning, but Reception lead single "L/C" reminds me of latter day Killers in the way it runs Westerman's usual Sting and Dire Straits influences through the heartland rock nostalgia of the War On Drugs. Westerman's vocals here are deep, dark, and dashing, especially when he starts singing about love and broken fictions. Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Congress"
02 "L/C"
03 "Norman"
04 "Vermuth"
Reception is out 11/6 on Partisan. Pre-order it here.