AMY ANNELLE ANNOUNCES NEW LP + "PULL TABS AND BROKEN GLASS (ft. JOLIE HOLLAND)
AMY ANNELLE ANNOUNCES FORTHCOMING LP
THE TOLL OUT AUGUST 2
LISTEN // WATCH: “PULL TABS AND BROKEN GLASS (ft. JOLIE HOLLAND)”
AUSTIN RELEASE SHOW ON JULY 27 TO BENEFIT COMMUNITIES FOR RECOVERY
Austin-based veteran singer-songwriter Amy Annelle has announced her forthcoming LP, The Toll, due out August 2nd, with the release of its first single, “Pull Tabs and Broken Glass,” featuring harmony vocals from Jolie Holland. "Pull Tabs and Broken Glass," the thematic overture of the album, is about remembrance - pull tabs on the ground from days gone by, broken glass from old windowpanes, markers of time from a life once lived. It's about secret hopes and dreams, acknowledging the stories that haunt a checkered past, the could-have-beens and used-to-bes. The setting could be a tiny old house in Texas - shaded by ancient oaks, evening coming down, memories and ghosts stirring from the shadows.
Best known for her rendition of Townes Van Zandt’s “Buckskin Stallion Blues,” which featured prominently in the Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award-nominated film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Annelle's heartfelt performance has resonated globally.
Emerging from a long battle with chronic illness, Annelle returns to the forefront of her craft with her enthralling new album, The Toll, co-produced by Cooper McBean of folk/Americana powerhouse The Devil Makes Three. The visceral 12-track treasure was borne from the depths of a restive soul and captures a time of transience and potent relationships. Each entry explores elemental lyrical themes: the wonderment and fierceness of nature’s rapture (“A Star’s Memory,” “East Texas Son”), the multi-faceted sorrow and astonishment of love (“The Ballad of Fire and Water,” “Why Did He Take His Love Away,” “The Toll”), the high price of following dreams (“Down and Out in Denver,” ”The Gate”), the peril of reaching the end of the road (“Pull Tabs and Broken Glass,” “Let Me Be,” “That Lonesome Whistle”), and her own emerging queer identity (“Common Law Marriage (ft. Cooper Mc Bean),” “I Loved a Lad”).
Backed by some of Austin’s finest studio musicians, The Toll showcases Annelle’s deft musical language - one that transcends genre boundaries, and features lush instrumentation, stirring harmonies, and elegant arrangements. Recorded at Annelle’s no-frills home studio in Austin’s Montopolis neighborhood, mixed by revered producer and engineer Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, The Weather Station), and mastered by legendary engineer Greg Calbi (Yoko Ono, Sleater-Kinney, Taylor Swift), The Toll is imbued with a lifetime of lived experience, offering intimate and raw narratives that are deep-seeded and rooted in authenticity, complex yet playful.
Since her 1998 debut single “Rudy,” Annelle, who has also contributed to the work of fellow artists Bill Callahan, Daniel Johnston, Michael Hurley, and Jandek, has released a stream of critically acclaimed solo albums, first using the moniker “The Places,” then her own name. After a few years spent in Portland, Oregon’s burgeoning music scene, she made a home on the road, touring as a soloist or with ingenious pickup groups that brought together friends from folk, jazz, country, and experimental circles.
In between her travels, Annelle stayed in different regions of the country, living rough, working odd jobs, and immersing herself in the people, places, and history around her. Her songs, photographs, and essays bear witness to this journey, into forgotten eddies of America and deep within herself. Her touching performances have taken place everywhere from art collectives and festivals, clubs and street corners, to New York City’s Town Hall and on Hollywood’s big screen. She’s been recording and touring for over two decades, crafting “richly textured, exotic song-worlds that often bear little resemblance to standard voice-and-guitar folk songs” (Billboard).
The Toll marks Annelle’s triumphant return to form; her music serves as a cartographic study of people and places, where cities and encounters are vividly portrayed in shades and shapes of bruises. Her songs culminate in a cathartic and unforgettable experience for all who listen.
To celebrate the release, Amy will be performing on July 27th at the Austin Scottish Rite Theater with special guest, queer trans folk phenomenon, Creekbed Carter. Annelle will perform "The Toll" in its entirety, accompanied by The Velvet Hand, an eight-piece ensemble of Austin's best and brightest musicians. The event is made possible by a City of Austin Live Music Fund Grant, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit nonprofit Communities For Recovery. The evening will be a celebration of mental health awareness and recovery, and there will be an info table by the SIMS Foundation, a crucial organization providing mental health and recovery services for Austin music industry professionals. More information is HERE.