Hey everyone.
It has been a long and rather lackluster year here on I Rock I Roll. As the year wound down, I felt myself feeling pretty bummed about this, and at the same time rather uninspired. I'll be honest, there just really wasn't any one band that rocked my world this year. Last year it was Tally Hall, and the year before that all I could talk about was The Changes. And while there have certainly been a lot of GREAT things this year, there was nothing really that made me go OMG WOW THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER. At least not that I can immediately recall, and I"m on a lot of cold medication right now so I may come up with something later.
But the GOOD NEWS is that one of my long time favorite New York bands finally completed their long long long awaited full length album, and it is nothing short of phenominal. Stille, by Saints + Lovers, has been a labor of love from beginning to end, with the band producing and recording the album entirely on their own, driven by nothing but their pure love of music. And as proof of that, they have chosen to only share the album initially with bloggers that they love, who have supported the band from the very beginning.
For me, listening to Stille is like being drawn into something powerful and gentle all at once, spinning stories about love and the internal war that we wage with ourselves daily living in the city, into lush songs highlighted by singer Dennis Cahlo's soaring vocals. I could listen to this record from beginning to end over and over and never tire of it, and discover something new that I love about it on every spin. Albums like this one and bands like Saints + Lovers are what this blog has always been about from when I started it four years ago and I am thrilled to be able to share music like this with everyone I know.
The album is set for a 2008 release, but here are two tracks from it. I had a really difficult time choosing them, so enjoy.
Saints + Lovers - Anywhere But Here
Saints + Lovers - The Bedroom Door