Ryan H. Walsh, the person behind the long-running Boston band Hallelujah The Hills, is a writer as well as a musician. In 2018, for instance, Walsh published his book Astral Weeks: A Secret History Of 1968, and we published an excerpt back then. Walsh has written a couple of things specifically for Stereogum, too, including a 2016 deep-dive into the making of the Silver Jews' classic The Natural Bridge. Back when the Silver Jews were still a semi-functional band, Hallelujah The Hills toured with them. Now, Hallelujah The Hills are announcing a massive new four-album project, and their new single features the Silver Jews' Cassie Berman, David's widow. She's one of many guests who appears on the massive new undertaking DECK.
DECK is coming out in June, and its concept is fairly self-explanatory. It's all right there on the cover art: "52 songs, 4 albums, 2 jokers, 1 deck." Those four albums are packaged together in one massive whole, and they're divided into suits: CLUBS, DIAMONDS, HEARTS, and SPADES. Ryan H. Walsh and his bandmates recorded this huge undertaking over two and a half years, mostly at the Machines With Magnets studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It's the result of a fan-funded Patreon campaign, and every supporter is listed as an executive producer.
Hallelujah The Hills have been building up to the release of DECK for quite some time. Last year, we posted the LP track "Here Goes Nothing (Patrick's Version)," which features Titus Andronicus leader Patrick Stickles, a frequent Hallelujah The Hills collaborator. DECK also has contributions from people like the Hold Steady's Craig Finn, Speedy Ortiz's Sadie Dupuis, Belly's Tanya Donelly, Mission Of Burma's Clint Conley, and Ezra Furman's Ezra Furman. A press release also promises "string sections from Italy, choirs from Nigeria, and even a Scottish bagpiper."
Today, we get to hear the swirling, pounding folk song "Fake Flowers At Sunset," which has Cassie Berman on backing vocals. This is ordinarily where I'd also put in the album's tracklist, but this would be four album tracklists, and the formatting would take forever. There's 52 songs, OK? I feel like that alone should be enough information, even if it doesn't quite clear up the question of what it means to have two jokers in this context. Listen below.
DECK is out 6/13 on Discrete Pageantry Records/Best Brother Records.
