The Avalanches return from 16-year hiatus with new album, single “Frankie Sinatra”
Ah, the early ’00s. When “turntablism” was a hot buzzword, bands headed by cartoons and robots were all the rage, and sample-based sound collages were the future of music. Into this fertile landscape fell The Avalanches, whose 2000 debut album Since I Left You intrigued DJs and casual listeners alike with its kaleidoscopic “plunderphonics” sound, composed entirely of samples compiled from thousands of dusty musical and spoken-word LPs.
Now, 16 years after “Frontier Psychiatrist,” the group has returned with a new album, Wildflower, due out on July 8. A press release announcing the album describes Wildflower as “The Beach Boys’ Smile re-imagined in the Daisy Age: a mind-bending cartoon road movie that’s best viewed with closed eyes and an open mind.”
That description is as appropriate as any for the first single from the album, “Frankie Sinatra,” whose music video was also released today. The video combines hallucinatory visuals with a bouncy beat and verses from MF Doom and Danny Brown, creating an experience akin to eating mushrooms at a Florida carnival. Not that we’ve ever done anything like that:
The track listing and album art for Wildflower is below.
Wildflower
1. The Leaves Were Falling
2. Because I’m Me
3. Frankie Sinatra
4. Subways
5. Going Home
6. If I Was A Folkstar
7. Colours
8. Zap!
9. Noisy Eater
10. Wildflower
11. Harmony
12. Live A Lifetime Love
13. Park Music
14. Livin’ Underwater (Is Somethin’ Wild)
15. The Wozard Of Iz
16. Over The Turnstiles
17. Sunshine
18. Light Up
19. Kaleidoscopic Lovers
20. Stepkids
21. Saturday Night Inside Out