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Jun 24, 2013 Okkervil River By Mike Hilleary

Austin ensemble Okkervil River have revealed new details pertaining to their forthcoming new album The Silver Gymnasium. More prone to character-driven songwriting in the past, frontman Will Sheff explains that the new record is autobiographical, setting the LP in a very specific time and place from his own childhood: 1986 in the small town of Meriden, NH, where Sheff’s parents worked as teachers for a boarding school. According to a press release Sheff conceived the album as “a tribute to the spirit of pre-adolescence, meant to evoke the nostalgic feeling of ‘an action figure you found in the woods.’”

Says Sheff: “On our last record, I Am Very Far, I was musically trying to both satisfy and to challenge myself; for The Silver Gymnasium, I wanted to write a record that was very much about trying to reach out to other people and show them a good time. I’d always wanted to write a record that was more based in autobiography, that spoke about my memories of how I felt and how the world around me seemed at a specific moment in the past, and it felt like a good time to finally do it. I thought John Agnello would be the perfect choice as a producer, not only because I’ve enjoyed his more recent records with people like Kurt Vile and Dinosaur Jr. but also because John is a much more old-fashioned producer who was actually involved with a lot of the music I listened to growing up, everything from Cyndi Lauper to John Mellencamp to the Outfield’s ‘Your Love.’ John even worked on Born in the U.S.A. and was loitering around in the background during the making of Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes; so he was actually present while they were making a lot of the music that inspired the kid version of me to want to be a musician and that inspired The Silver Gymnasium in general. Our goal with The Silver Gymnasium was to work quickly and decisively, to make a ‘band’ record and not a fussy studio creation, and to make the most fun record we could possibly make.”

Down below is the album’s tracklist, with the artwork up above. The Silver Gymnasium comes out Sept. 3 on ATO.

The Silver Gymnasium:
It Was My Season
On A Balcony
Down Down the Deep River
Pink-Slips
Lido Pier Suicide Car
Where the Spirit Left Us
White
Stay Young
Walking Without Frankie
All The Time Every Day
Black Nemo

Okkervil River Tour Dates:
8/24-25 - Monterey, CA @ First City Festival
9/7 - Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
9/19 - Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
9/20 - Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
9/21 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
9/23 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
9/26 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (w/ Pickwick and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears)
9/27 - Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
9/28 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
9/29 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
10/1 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
10/2 - Little Rock, AR @ Revolution
10/4-13 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/18 - El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
10/19 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
10/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
10/24 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
10/25 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
10/26 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
11/1 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
11/2 - Chicago, IL @ Metro

(www.okkervilriver.com)