Back at the beginning of April, Hiss Golden Messenger frontman and Durham transplant Michael Taylor announced that he’d signed with fellow Durham heavyhitters Merge Records to release his next album. Today, Taylor announced today new details about the record: it’s titled Lateness of Dancers, and is set to hit shelves on September 9.
The album features ten tracks, one of which, “Drum,” first appeared on 2010’s Bad Debt. Others like “Southern Grammar” and “Lucia” made appearances at the late February Bad Debt re-release show at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room. Lateness of Dancers features several names familiar to HGM fans, including Scott Hirsh, Brad and Phil Cook and William Tyler. Welcome newcomers include former Mountain Man vocalist Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, Town Mountain fiddler Bobby Britt and Hot at Nights guitarist Chris Boerner.
The track list is as follows:
Lucia
Saturday’s Song
Mahogany Dread
Day O Day (A Love So Free)
Lateness of Dancers
I’m a Raven (Shake Children)
Black Dog Wind (Rose of Roses)
Southern Grammar
Chapter & Verse (Ione’s Song)
Drum
To date, Taylor’s releases have been heavy and emotional, even at their simplest. His songwriting is mighty and understated, with instrumentation that swells, swoops and dives in ways that leave listeners stunned. Lateness of Dancers doesn’t look like it’ll be any sort of exception to Taylor’s trend so far.
You can check out a trailer for the album below and check out Taylor performing “Mahogany Dread” with Megafaun. You can also check out a track that didn’t make the cut for Lateness of Dancers, “Brother Do You Know The Road?”, here.
Megafaun with MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger), “Mahogany Dread”
