Roomful of Teeth Release Second Single from 'Rough Magic' • Out May 5, 2023 • Listen to William Brittelle's "Psychedelics II. I am the Watchtower"
On May 5, 2023, GRAMMY-winning vocal band Roomful of Teeth — a “remarkable” (New York Times) “experimental group that is changing what it means to harmonize” (The New Yorker) and “gleefully dismantling the traditional definition of ensemble singing right before our ears” (NPR) — releases their long-awaited new album, Rough Magic.
The record, which features premiere recordings of four works created for and (significantly) with the group, is an explosive departure from their previous recordings, leading listeners into the beauty and boundaries of language while showcasing, once again, the band’s unwavering commitment to expanding the scope of vocal music. From high-gloss, 80s-style synth-charged passages to early Steve Reich tape-piece-type sounds, Rough Magic articulates a grand experience of language, its frailty, and its rapturous — if darkly mysterious — magic.
On April 14, 2023, Roomful of Teeth released "Psychedelics II: I am the Watchtower," a composition by William Brittelle, a Brooklyn-based genre-fluid composer, producer, and creator of hypertext and multimedia. In addition to Roomful of Teeth, Brittelle has worked with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Bryce Dessner, Son Lux, Oneohtrix Point Never, A Far Cry, Lower Dens, Duran Duran, Wye Oak, La Force, Gail Ann Dorsey, and the Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Alabama, Grand Rapids and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras, the Basel Sinfonietta, the Nu Deco Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Listen to "Psychedelics II: I am the Watchtower" [HERE]."
" 'Caliban,' which is excerpted from Caroline Shaw’s The Isle, spotlights her singing Shakespeare’s famous words from The Tempest," says Brad Wells, founder and co-artistic director for Roomful of Teeth. "Shaw describes the island ‘full of noises, sounds and sweet airs,' as the rest of the ensemble, first almost inaudibly, then eventually in great waves, provides the sonic landscape, evoking not just the island’s magical sound world but also the vast surrounding ocean as well."
