Hungrytown is the duo of Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson, based in the south of Vermont, and they have announced the release of their latest album ‘Circus For Sale’ which is due out on 21st June 2024 via Big Stir Records, their fourth and their first for the new label. Hungrytown have also scheduled a number of UK dates for the Autumn of 2024.
Hall and Anderson have made Hungrytown an artistic hybrid, able to hold Celtic and Americana, ballads and psychedelia, sunshine and darkness, joy and despair – not only within the same album, but within the same song. The three prior albums they’ve released have won accolades and end-of-year best of recognition from within the roots and folk community. ‘Circus For Sale’ sees them take their sound deeper, higher, and further into a world of their own creation. The songs are described as “cinematic and intimate all at once, partly ancient, partly tethered to ’60s baroque pop, and belonging in equal parts to the modern world and a time all their own”.
That is partly down to the circumstances of its creation. For a band that’s spent over a decade constantly on the road, the static existence mandated by the pandemic was bound to impact the creative process, all the more so given their rural Vermont environs. Of ‘Feel Like Falling’, Hall explains, “I wrote those lyrics at the beginning of the pandemic, when we were trying to adjust to the sudden shift in our lives — from constantly touring and performing to staying home and waiting. It’s fundamentally a metaphor about grief, written over a period of a few months, but by the end of it I was beginning to realise that the break from the road was actually a gift of time. I was not used to having the luxury of time — to write, observe and learn new skills — instead of always being on the move.” The new album is being released in CD and digital formats. Pre-order and pre-save links can be found here.
The first single release from Circus For Sale is the album’s opener ‘Another Year’ which embodies all the months of the calendar: “It’s an ode to the changing seasons, inspired by the magical melancholy of the softer side of late 1960s psychedelia,” says Hall. “There is beauty in this world, but the innocent ’60s sensibility has been replaced by an uneasiness — a sense of some apocalyptic threat lurking just outside the pleasant frame.” You can listen to it below.
Hungrytown’s tour dates are as follows:
30th August 2024 Felton Village Hall, Felton
31st August, 2024 Horncliffe Memorial Hall, Horncliffe
5th September 5th 2024 Creighton Memorial Hall, Embleton
6th September 2024 Ashkirk Village Hall, Ashkirk
7th September 2024 Ayton Community Hall, Ayton
13th September 2024 Cumnock Town Hall Cumnock
14th September 2024 Stewarton Area Centre, Stewarton
21st September 2024 Lochmaddy Village Hall, Isle of North Uist
27th September 2024 Saxton Village Hall, Saxton
28th September, 2024 Kettleshulme Memorial Hall, Kettleshulme
4th October 2024 Westcote Village Hall Church Westcote
5th October, 2024 Butterleigh Village Hall, Butterleigh
11th October 2024 Tolpuddle Village Hall Tolpuddle
12th October 2024 Newton & Noss Village Hall Noss Mayo
17th October 2024 North Warnborough Village Hall North Warnborough
18th October 2024 Portesham Arts Club Portesham
19th October,2024 Upottery Village Hall (The Manor Room), Upottery
25 October 2024 The Bryce Institute, Burneside, Kendal
26 October 2024 Silsden Town Hall Kirkgate, Silsden
