ELYSIAN FIELDS

Pink Air is the new album from the distinctive and idiosyncratic New York cult band Elysian Fields. Their 11th record is a post-apocalyptic rock & roll joyride, touching on themes as far-reaching as natural disasters and global warming (the menacing, carnal “Storm Cellar”), life under a narcissist would-be dictator (“Philistine Jackknife”), white supremacy (“Knights Of The White Carnation”), censorship and the erasure of history (the dystopian sci-fi of “Karen 25”), vulnerable families falling through the social safety net (“Household Gods”), and meditations on time, friendship, loss, and mortality (“Time Capsule,” “Star Sheen”). Despite its mordant tone, the record never feels heavy handed, its mood lightened with infectious hooks and doses of humor and satire.Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow are the writers who make up the critically-acclaimed, under-the-radar band that formed in 1995 and went on to develop a cult following of faithful fans around the world. A dalliance with a major label beginning in 1996 ended with their edgy and uncompromising second album with Steve Albini, which drove the label and band apart, ending their contract. They went on to forge a path outside of the mainstream, recording with a number of independent labels over the years, culminating in 2016’s evocative Ghosts of No. Side projects include two albums of Sephardic music on John Zorn’s Tzadik label under the name La Mar Enfortuna, the supergroup Lovage featuring Jennifer along with Dan the Automator and Mike Patton, and many more recordings, including those of French stars Jean-Louis Murat and Wax Tailor, and experimental composer JG Thirlwell. Jennifer has also maintained a career in theater alongside music, with leading roles in numerous Off-Broadway productions over the years. In 2016, she originated the part of the Girl Angel in Du-Yun’s opera Angel’s Bone, which went on to win the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.