Sea Wolf Played First NYC Shows in Five Years, Previewed New Songs “Frank O’Hara” & “Blood Pact”
After “too many” years (as the band put it), Sea Wolf, the musical project of Alex Brown Church, returned to New York City. The full band accompanied by a string quartet played a pair of intimate gigs at National Sawdust in Brooklyn this week. The indie-rock group used these performances to showcase their last album, the 2014 Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke, as well as try out songs off their upcoming record. These shows closed out a special four-concert run that included two nights at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles.
Here on the East Coast, we haven’t heard that much from the band recently. The last time Sea Wolf played New York City was in 2014 when Alex Brown Church came through on a solo acoustic tour. It was just before the drop of the self-released Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke. Prior to that, the band had been releasing albums through their label Dangerbird Records (who signed them in 2007) and touring on the regular. In addition to Cedarsmoke, the band has three stellar studio LPs to their credit, Leaves in the River (2007), White Water, White Bloom (2009) and Old World Romance (2012). The band also contributed a song to The Twilight Saga: New Moon. “The Violet Hour” appears on the film’s soundtrack.
The band considers their last album, Cedarsmoke, to be a departure from their other musical output. Funded through Kickstarter, the project is one in a series of more experimental works. It’s more intimate and rough. Church recorded, mixed and produced it in his home studio. This mini-tour is the first time the songs from Cedarsmoke were performed live with a full band. In celebration of the album’s official “live” unveiling, Sea Wolf shared videos for album tracks “Intro,” “Cedarsmoke” and “Young Bodies.” They are directed by Church and Matthew Sidle. You can watch them all below.
In the fall of last year, Sea Wolf posted on social media that they had completed their next album. They added that they expected to release it in 2019. During the show at National Sawdust on Tuesday, they previewed two songs, “Frank O’Hara” and “Blood Pact.” You can get a preview of each below. The audience responded well to both.
The band for the National Sawdust shows consisted of Church, Lisa Fendelander (keyboards), Joey Ficken (drums), Scott Leahy (guitar), Wolf Woodcock (bass), and a string quartet of local New York City musicians. At the performance we attended, their set, which ran around 90 minutes, was magical. In addition to Cedarsmoke and the new tracks, the band played a number of old favorites. “You’re a Wolf,” “Dear Fellow Traveler,” “Middle Distance Runner,” and “Leaves in the River” were in the setlist mix. They also had some tour-exclusive merch for sale that Church and other members of the band made by hand.
Hopefully, there will be more news on the Sea Wolf front to share soon.
