01/31 - WXPN Welcomes: Freelance Whales

Freelance Whales have announced the title and release date for their eagerly-awaited sophomore release. The album, “Diluvia,” will be released jointly by Mom+Pop Music and Frenchkiss Records on October 9th, 2012. Diluvia finds the New York-based five-piece, led by vocalists/multi-instrumentalists Judah Dadone and rounded out by Doris Cellar, Chuck Criss, Kevin Read and Jacob Hyman, pushing the sonic boundaries of their breakthrough debut “Weathervanes.” Recorded over two months in New York City with producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells, Cults) the album is both dramatic and expansive, while retaining the homespun charm of its predecessor.

“Locked Out,” a track from the forthcoming full-length, is available for free download now at the band’s website. To accompany the release of the song, Freelance Whales created a visual companion meant to evoke the themes and aesthetics explored on “Diluvia.” The video can be found on FreelanceWhales.com and the band’s YouTube channel.Entertainment Weekly : “It’s the best electronic indie-pop debut since Ben Gibbard last tuned his laptop.”SPIN : “Armed with dreamy melodies, charmingly terrible pickup lines, and a vibrant band-geek orchestra carting harmoniums and glockenspiels, this New York quintet makes tenderhearted nerdiness sound like a powerful strength.”NPR : “This kitchen-sink collective builds from a heartbreaking quiver to a cinematic sprawl with a grace reminiscent of Broken Social Scene.”NPR : “Freelance Whales’ songs sound like a mixture of Sufjan Stevens’ sugary sweet chamber pop and The Arcade Fire’s propulsive, exultant hymns.”he members of Freelance Whales make incredibly infectious, jubilant music with soaring, five-part harmonies, banjo, harmonium, glockenspiel, acoustic guitar and lots of soulful energy.”

ESQUIRE: “this band, with its uncontrived curiosity for harmony, higher ground, and all those damn instruments, could soar to the anthemic heights reached by Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes…”