• Jon DeRosa

    A Wolf In Preacher's Clothes

    Jon DeRosa - A Wolf In Preacher's Clothes Influenced by vocal standards of the 1940's, teenage jukebox anthems of the 50's, and the mod and girl-group sounds of the 60's, Jon DeRosa combines them all to create a cocktail of song-driven atmospheric chamber pop. While these elements are unmistakably the "backbones," DeRosa's songs are most certainly fleshed out by his post-punk past, as nods to artists like Echo & The Bunnymen, Lou Reed, The Chameleons and Robert Wyatt peak through the orchestral sections at every turn. But atop the soaring strings and brass, DeRosa is first and foremost a storyteller, and it is these stories sung in a darkly resonant baritone that set his songs apart from ordinary "pop music." While to date DeRosa is best known for his work behind the decade-long atmospheric drone-pop project Aarktica, here DeRosa croons and entertains, a modern day troubadour, equal parts Scott Walker, Morrissey and Sinatra.

    On “A Wolf In Preacher's Clothes,” DeRosa is notably backed by cellist Julia Kent (Antony & The Johnsons, Rasputina), Jon Natchez (Beirut/Yellow Ostrich), drummer Mike Pride (Bacteria To Boys, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton), trumpeter James Duncan (Metro Area, Arthur's Landing, DFA), bassist Matt Basile (Mother Feather, Blue Note), and vocalist Lorraine Lelis (Mahogany, Aarktica), among others. The album was produced by Charles Newman (Magnetic Fields, Gospel Music).DeRosa's debut EP Anchored was one of three albums nominated by NPR's Ann Powers as "Best Undiscovered Music of 2011":" At first, Jon DeRosa's Anchored EP, a quartet of gorgeously layered chamber-pop shanties, seems leagues away from the voluptuous Lovecraftian drift he perfected under his moniker Aarktica. but there are dark spaces here, too, room to brood in the sweet gravel of his voice, in Julia Kent's penetrating cello lines, and in the quiet violence of the lyrics. With a depth that belies its brief running time, Anchored is so perfect that it literally gives you the chills." –Ed Park, The Believer  

    Tracklisting

    1. Birds of Brooklyn
    2. True Men
    3. Snow Coffin
    4. Teenage Goths
    5. Easter Parade
    6. Tattooed Lady's Blues
    7. Who Decides?
    8. Don't Say Goodnight
    9. Ladies in Love
    10. Hollow Earth Theory

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