Thor & Friends – “Dies In Paris” (Feat. Bill Callahan)
Next month, longtime indie hero Bill Callahan will drop his new album Gold Record. In the lead-up to the album release, Callahan has been sharing one song every week, which means most of the album is out there in the world already. This past Monday, Callahan shared “Cowboy,” the eighth song from the LP. And today, we get an extra Bill Callahan joint — a Bonus Bill, if you will.
A few years ago, Thor Harris, the monster drummer who has played with bands like Swans and Shearwater, formed the trio Thor & Friends with the musicians Peggy Ghorbani and Sarah “Goat” Gautier. They released their self-titled debut in 2016, and they followed it up a year later with The Subversive Nature Of Kindness. Next month, they’ll release two albums, 3 and 4, on the same day. The two albums include tons of collaborators, including Low, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, and members of bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Deerhoof. (You should be aware that Michael Gira, Harris’ former bandmate in Swans, is also on the album in 2016, Gira’s former collaborator Larkin Grimm accused him of rape, and Gira denied it. Harris continued to play in Swans after the allegations.)
Today, Thor & Friends have shared “Dies In Paris,” a six-minute that features Bill Callahan’s vocals. In a sort of perverse twist, Callahan doesn’t sing any actual lyrics on “Dies In Paris.” Instead, he’s purely there for instrumental texture, his baritone muttering and humming wordless sounds deep in the mix. Callahan and Thor Harris have worked together before; Harris has been playing on Callahan records since 2005’s A River Ain’t Too Much To Love. Check out “Dies In Paris” below.
Thor & Friends also recently shared “Mystery Train,” a song that features Low and Julie Holland. Here’s that:
3 and 4 are out 9/4 on Joyful Noise. Bill Callahan’s Gold Record is out the same day on Drag City.