WATCH: Balmorhea Share Video for “Step Step Step”

The Sam Gendel-assisted track appears on new LP, Pendant World, due June 16th

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2023, Balmorhea, Deutsche Grammophon, Gillian Welch, Pendant World, Rachel's, Rob Lowe, Sam Gendel, Step Step Step, Tortoise

Balmorhea from Austin, TX, have been furthering the conversation about American post-rock for the past two decades.

Over the course of eight past albums, the group have established a highly distinctive style that owes as much to Gillian Welch and Windham Hill Records as it does Tortoise and Rachel’s. And now that they are on the prestigious classical imprint Deutsche Grammophon, Balmorhea continues to take their minimalism to a new plane of creativity.

Their next album and second Deutsche disc, Pendant World, will be out on June 16th, and promises to stretch the imagination even further with elements of manipulated samples and experimental jazz maneuvering that can be heard on the album’s first single “Step Step Step,” which features special guest Sam Gendel on his trademark treated sax along with regular Balmorhea contributors Aisha Burns, Clarice Jensen and Jason Treuting.

Balmorhea Pendant World, Deutsche Grammophon 2023

“I remember showing this song to a close friend while we were working on it in the studio and he said ‘What the fuck WAS that?,'” explains Balmorhea guitarist Rob Lowe. “It’s really unlike anything we have made before. Sam Gendel’s contribution on saxophone has the perfect energy to blast the stately/lilting piano line into a different dimension.”

Pendant World, named for a line from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, grew from Lowe and Muller’s desire to reunite with friends and perform with like-minded musicians after a long break. The music was recorded in ideal conditions in rural Vermont in collaboration with three-time Grammy-winning engineer and producer Jonathan Low (The National, Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens).

“Step Step Step” is released today on streaming services along with an accompanying quantum physics-inspired film from the artist Odd.One that you can watch below. If you are a fan of the animation style of The Snowman or Al Jarnow’s trippy shorts from Sesame Street, you will dig it.

For more information on Balmorhea, visit them on their website.