Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
£1GBP or more
about
Ten years after an extended road trip around the United States, Du Blonde & Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands are preparing to finally release their standalone deep-cut ‘Pelican Canyon’.
Recorded in one take in a haunted Los Angeles studio in 2013, Pelican Canyon is a stripped back acoustic track, reminiscent of the 70’s folk of John Prine and Joan Baez. Lyrics such as “So nice to meet you, what’s your name and where you been?” encapsulate the essence of two strangers hitting the road in search of distraction from their day-to-day lives. Over four weeks the pair visited 15 states, including California, Virgina, Maryland, New York, and North and South Carolina, finally deciding to name the song after the pelicans and canyons that flank the magical stretch of Pacific Coast Highway between Los Angeles and Malibu.
Du Blonde reminisces on the recording: “Pelican Canyon is a song that’s really close to my heart. It’s a time capsule of one of many trips I took in my early twenties, when the world was still new to me and I was adventurous enough to drive out into the desert with a total stranger. It encompasses a feeling and experience I’ve been looking to recreate ever since.”
Pelican Canyon showcases a different side of Herring to the emphatic, tour de force vocalist we’ve become accustomed to through his work with Future Islands. Laid over a backdrop of Du Blonde’s finger picked acoustic guitar and soft harmonies, Herring’s vocals bring forth elements of Johnny Cash’s more melancholy work, proving that even the most gritty vocals can be the most beautiful when afforded space to sail.
lyrics
Lyrics:
Paddled in to the canyon of your kind
I made peace along the terraces in time
Kissed and creaked without a sound to share your wine
Now I’m drunk off what I never dared to find
It tastes of salt, sandy ridge of mind
Lizards in these hills move blue, cold
Too close to chaseIt tastes of salt, sandy ridge of mind
Moving western lands
Moving over lines
So nice to meet you, what's your name and where you been?
I heard the horrors of the home have gone and done you in
It’s such a shame to see the eyes of such a golden soul grow dim
At the hands of a wild fire
So nice to meet you, what's your name and where you been?
I heard the horrors of the home have gone and done you in
It’s such a shame to see the eyes of such a golden soul grow dim
At the hands of a wild fire
Arms asleep making our way in to night
Hearts are deep just like the oceans we survived
Pinned to moons so you can see me where you lie
Over now but for the colours in our eyes
It tastes of saltI’m worn and beaten, babe
Sharing light with whatever soul will wait
Closed myself off from bridges and canoes
Faded now the river has to choose
So nice to meet you, what's your name and where you been?
I heard the horrors of the home have gone and done you in
It’s such a shame to see the eyes of such a golden soul grow dim
At the hands of a wild fire
So nice to meet you, what's your name and where you been?
I heard the horrors of the home have gone and done you in
It’s such a shame to see the eyes of such a golden soul grow dim
At the hands of a wild fire
So nice to meet you, what's your name and where you been?
I heard the horrors of the home have gone and done you in
It’s such a shame to see the eyes of such a golden soul grow dim
At the hands of a wild fire
credits
released May 9, 2023
Written and performed by Du Blonde & Samuel T. Herring.
Produced, recorded and mixed by Phillip Broussard Jr. at The Boat Studios in Los Angeles, California, 2013.
supported by 12 fans who also own “Pelican Canyon”
All of the immersive, rolling-water vocal styling and deeper conscience of the best of 70s AM radio classics, but with a more contemporary song structure. So good. Goodguy McBadguy
supported by 11 fans who also own “Pelican Canyon”
Well, does it live up to the hype? It's okay, not as good as 'Loops' or the 'Fenella' stuff; i doubt i'll be listening to it in full very often.
Her mojo is waneing in my 'umble opinion. vykr
Australian underground stalwart Tam Vantage returns with a new record of fuzzy and melodic indie rock, unembellished and high energy. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 11, 2021
