First new music in 5 years – Listen to the title track below.
The Pernice Brothers have announced a new album “Who Will You Believe” which lands on April 5th via New West Records, and along with this news have released the album’s title track. The album, their first new music in five years, will also be their first Pernice Brothers release since marking their 25th anniversary by reissuing their acclaimed 1998 debut “Overcome By Happiness” as a deluxe edition last year. “Who Will You Believe” is produced by Joe Pernice, and includes contributions from longtime bandmates, including Bob Pernice and Peyton Pinkerton (Silver Jews), as well as Neko Case on the duet “I Don’t Need That Anymore.” You can listen to the single and title track ‘Who Will You Believe’ below.
In a single six-month stretch in 2019 Pernice was left reeling from the deaths of two friends and a close family member. “That was such a bad stretch of time. When things settled some I was thinking about them a lot and doing my best to try and take nothing for granted.” Those tragedies inspired “The Purple Rain,” which concludes the album and in the chorus of which he sings: Remember me to her sea-bound train. Remember me to her fruited plains. Purple mountains and purple rain won’t always separate the shining seas. The wake is washing over me. “It’s an homage to some friends and family I lost, but it’s also about the dread of potentially losing intangible things that I thought would always be there,” Pernice says.
Starting with his acclaimed band Scud Mountain Boys, Joe Pernice has been releasing albums for over 25 years. “I trust the process more,” he says. “I might not know exactly where a song is going when inspiration shows up, so I know to just relax and keep going. I know it’s going to get there, even if it doesn’t happen immediately. Those closest to me might disagree, but I think I’ve become a lot more chill in general.” On the spare, bittersweet “How Will We Sleep,” Pernice comments: “I try to stop myself every day and tell myself that one of these days is going to be my last. It sounds morbid on the surface, but I don’t think it is. It helps me live in the present, and for me that’s pretty uplifting. Once you get past the scary part, it’s actually a very peaceful feeling.”
Joe Pernice’s catalogue with Pernice Brothers extends well beyond that band. In addition to recording a handful of solo albums (including a Barry Manilow tribute), he reconvened the Scud Mountain Boys in the early 2010s for a new album and tour, and in 2014 he released “Into the Lime” with the New Mendicants, a supergroup featuring Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. He also writes frequently for television, most notably as a staff writer for the Canadian crime drama The Detail. Joe has published a book of poetry and several works of fiction, including a novella about the Smiths for the 33 1/3 book series. And in 2009, he released a 7-inch single under the alias the Young Accuser via his first label Sub Pop Records—a tie-in with his novel It Feels So Good When I Stop.
“Who Will You Believe” will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited to 300 Turquoise Color Vinyl Edition autographed by Joe Pernice and including a blue flexi disc featuring an exclusive bonus track will be available via Rough Trade. A limited cassette edition of the album will be available exclusively via Bandcamp. A limited Clear Vinyl edition and compact disc edition both autographed by Joe Pernice will be available at Independent Retailers and is available for pre-order now via New West Records. Look out for a review nearer the time here on AUK.
Pernice Brothers “Who Will You Believe” Track Listing:
1. Who Will You Believe
2. Look Alive
3. Not This Pig
4. What We Had
5. December in Her Eyes
6. A Song for Sir Robert Helpmann
7. Hey, Guitar
8. A Man of Means
9. I Don’t Need That Anymore (feat. Neko Case)
10. Ordinary Goldmine
11. How Will We Sleep
12. The Purple Rain
I’m overcome by happiness with that news.