Olden Yolk, the duo comprising songwriters Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer, released their debut self-titled album last year. Today, they announce their forthcoming sophomore LP, Living Theatre, and share its lead single. Butler and Shaffer’s lilting vocals entwine with their melancholy acoustic instrumentation on “Cotton & Cane.”

The track comes with a music video, directed by the band and P. Nick Curran. Hazy shots show the duo walking on a green hillside and through rooms of an antique-filled house. They expand on the setting and the song’s origins in a statement:

The woman who once lived in the house was an art collector, and there were these haunting paintings and ancient artifacts lining the halls. For us it was a space to reflect on all that had happened over the year and all that we were moving towards. At the time we started writing ‘Cotton & Cane,’ Shane was thinking about his relationship with his father, and the lyrics of the song started to take on the tone of a conversation between them. Less than a week before we went into the studio, Shane’s father passed away, and the song’s meaning began to unfold completely; the confusion, the awe, the complex picture of his entire life. P. Nick Curran shot the film in the current alien wasteland that is the Los Angeles hills, unearthed and burnt from recent fires and torrential downpours.

Olden Yolk chose to name their forthcoming album after the experimental thespian movement in New York of the same name. The movement involved actors breaking from tradition by “creating an experience of communal expression.” They set to record the album in three months after spending a year on the road touring. Living Theatre touches on concepts of home, spirituality, and ancestry in today’s age.

Living Theatre was created with percussionist Booker Stardrum and co-producer Jarvis Taveniere in collaboration with Eliza Bagg, Frank Maston, Peter Wagner, and Benjamin Levinson. Listen to its lead single, “Cotton & Cane,” below.

TRACKLIST”
01 “240D”
02 “Blue Paradigm”
03 “Cotton and Cane”
04 “Meadowlands”
05 “Castor and Pollux”
06 “Violent Days”
07 “Every Dark”
08 “Grand Palais”
09 “Distant Episode”
10 “Angelino High”

TOUR DATES:
04/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Lodge Room w/ Chris Cohen
05/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (Record release show)
05/17 – Boston, MA @ Lilypad
05/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Jerry’s On Front
05/19 – Washington, DC @ DC9
05/22 – Atlanta, GA @ 529
05/23 – New Orleans, LA @ Santos
05/25 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
05/27 – Nashville, TN @ TBD
05/28 – Louisville, KY @ Odeon
05/29 – Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits Lounge
05/30 – Chicago, IL @ Hideout
05/31 – Grand Rapids, MI @ House Show
06/07 – Sonoma, CA @ Huichica Festival
06/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon (LA record release show)
06/20 – San Francisco, CA @ Make Out Room
06/21 – Portland, OR @ Turn Turn Turn w/ Adam Torres
06/23 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
10/12 – Portsmouth, UK @ The Festing
10/13 – Exeter, UK @ The Cavern
10/14 – Brighton, UK @ Komedie Studio
10/15 – London, UK @ Lexington
10/16 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
10/17 – Birmingham, UK @ Hair & Hounds 2
10/18 – Manchester, UK @ YES
10/19 – Oxford, UK @ Ritual Union Festival

CREDIT: John Andrews

Living Theatre is out 5/17 on Trouble in Mind. Pre-order it here.