Handful of Snowdrops- new album
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:45 pmfrom an email from the band:
" Dead City, January 20, 2015 — Almost 25 years after the release of their last studio album, Dans l’oeil de la tempête, which was followed by a final live album recorded over two nights in March 1993 and that officially marked the death of the band, the aptly titled Mort en direct, the Mercier brothers — Jean-Pierre (guitar, keys, programming, vocals) and Michel (bass, keys, guitar, programming) — have rekindled the fire required for the phoenix to be reborn.
Titled III, this collection of 9 original new songs (plus one instrumental) is sure to be beyond even the wildest expectations of their die-hard fans everywhere around the world, fans who, up until today, could only dream of a new album by Handful of Snowdrops.
Fans old and new will be blown away by the amazing tour de force that the Mercier brothers have pulled off on III : they remained perfectly true to their unique, beloved sound that confirmed them as equals to stalwarts of the 80s such as New Order, OMD, Ultravox and the likes.
Yet, they masterfully managed to avoid the biggest pitfall facing them: sounding retro or nostalgic. In doing so, they unequivocally proved, in one fell swoop, that it’s the uniqueness of that sound that set them apart from their contemporaries who, for those still around, have all changed their sound, and not always for the better.
Handful of Snowdrops haven’t and they still sound relevant and necessary.
Sold exclusively through http://www.handfulofsnowdrops.com starting today as a pre-sale and officially on Jan. 27, the album was crowd funded via Indiegogo during a summer 2014 campaign that was an immense success: 100% of the target in just a few days and a final funding of 182% of the target via 112 funders! Such a resounding success contributed in no short measure to bolster the brothers' confidence to forge ahead with their crazy project started sometime in 2013.
If Handful of Snowdrops have remained true to their roots, musically, Jean-Pierre delves into entirely new lyrical territory.
Time being what it is, there was a lot of heartbreak, joy, death and birth in the nearly quarter of a century that has since gone by (those back vocals on the epic closer It Can Only Mean One Thing? Michel's daughter, Pascale, who now has her own successful band, Mathématique), and it is clearly reflected in the themes and prose of this gravely underrated poet of the ordinary.
His lyrics have rarely been upbeat, but now they are much more personal and universal all at once. He's also grown more politically involved, but being the outstanding penman that he is, he never sounds preachy.
The album will be available on CD or download, and to mark the launch of the pre-sale week, the boys have put together a video for the album's opener, Dead City. The song is the perfect ambassador to the album, musically and lyrically, while the video is a throwback to all of the videos produced by the band 20+ years ago — and yes, that is Pascale in the video..."
" Dead City, January 20, 2015 — Almost 25 years after the release of their last studio album, Dans l’oeil de la tempête, which was followed by a final live album recorded over two nights in March 1993 and that officially marked the death of the band, the aptly titled Mort en direct, the Mercier brothers — Jean-Pierre (guitar, keys, programming, vocals) and Michel (bass, keys, guitar, programming) — have rekindled the fire required for the phoenix to be reborn.
Titled III, this collection of 9 original new songs (plus one instrumental) is sure to be beyond even the wildest expectations of their die-hard fans everywhere around the world, fans who, up until today, could only dream of a new album by Handful of Snowdrops.
Fans old and new will be blown away by the amazing tour de force that the Mercier brothers have pulled off on III : they remained perfectly true to their unique, beloved sound that confirmed them as equals to stalwarts of the 80s such as New Order, OMD, Ultravox and the likes.
Yet, they masterfully managed to avoid the biggest pitfall facing them: sounding retro or nostalgic. In doing so, they unequivocally proved, in one fell swoop, that it’s the uniqueness of that sound that set them apart from their contemporaries who, for those still around, have all changed their sound, and not always for the better.
Handful of Snowdrops haven’t and they still sound relevant and necessary.
Sold exclusively through http://www.handfulofsnowdrops.com starting today as a pre-sale and officially on Jan. 27, the album was crowd funded via Indiegogo during a summer 2014 campaign that was an immense success: 100% of the target in just a few days and a final funding of 182% of the target via 112 funders! Such a resounding success contributed in no short measure to bolster the brothers' confidence to forge ahead with their crazy project started sometime in 2013.
If Handful of Snowdrops have remained true to their roots, musically, Jean-Pierre delves into entirely new lyrical territory.
Time being what it is, there was a lot of heartbreak, joy, death and birth in the nearly quarter of a century that has since gone by (those back vocals on the epic closer It Can Only Mean One Thing? Michel's daughter, Pascale, who now has her own successful band, Mathématique), and it is clearly reflected in the themes and prose of this gravely underrated poet of the ordinary.
His lyrics have rarely been upbeat, but now they are much more personal and universal all at once. He's also grown more politically involved, but being the outstanding penman that he is, he never sounds preachy.
The album will be available on CD or download, and to mark the launch of the pre-sale week, the boys have put together a video for the album's opener, Dead City. The song is the perfect ambassador to the album, musically and lyrically, while the video is a throwback to all of the videos produced by the band 20+ years ago — and yes, that is Pascale in the video..."