Following a reunion at Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary Festival, psychedelic country-rock purveyors Beachwood Sparks have been spurred on by the label brass to get back into the studio. The forthcoming album will be their first full-length since 2001's Once We Were Trees. (via Billboard) The group's last release was the 2002 EP "Make the Cowboy Robots Cry," after which it went on an indefinite hiatus. "We always left it that if the time comes or the elements are right, we'd probably do this again," drummer Aaron Sperske tells Billboard.com. "With the Sub Pop [reunion], they said, 'We'll give you some money.' They basically facilitated us getting in the studio. That was the catalyst we needed -- someone to underwrite this."
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"We're more flexible in our sound," Sperske says. "A part of it is getting back into the fold and honestly, it has never sounded better than it has before. People are really good players now, too. It's not like they weren't before, but we can do things beyond what we could do before."
MP3: Beachwood Sparks - "Confusion is Nothing New" from Once We Were Trees (2001)
MP3: Beachwood Sparks - "Drinkswater" from Make the Cowboy Robots Cry EP (2002)