KARL BLAU Out Her Space LP Red Vinyl NEW 2017

Slow Children
Poor The War Away
Beckon
Valley Of Sadness
Blue As My Name
I’ve Got The Sounds (Like You’ve Got The Blues)
Where Ya Goin’ Papa
Dub The War Away

Out Her Space, released on Bella Union, features all Blau's own material, production and multi-instrumental skills, and forges a gorgeous, languid and hook-infested gumbo of soul, funk, some jazzy blowing and Afro-pop, to arrive somewhere else entirely. Out Her Space also testifies to Blau's studio skills, as he captures the glimmering, humid depths of those sweltering southern influences, despite his north-western heritage. But then Blau has engineered and produced a heap of records for himself and others, often at his home in Anacortes, releasing records on Washington's favourite indies K and Knw-Yr-Own, as well as through his own Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society subscription service. But Out Her Space comes from another place, with another story to tell. In 2009, Blau had been asked to record Richmond, Virginia country-psych band Great White Jenkins, fronted by Matthew E. White. In 2012, when White started a new label, Spacebomb, based around a house band in the style of the old Stax and Motown ventures, he called on Blau again. The album that came from this partnership was White's solo album Big Inner (snatched up by Domino Records), which The Guardian called, "a genuine revelation." Having heard Blau's own demos, White ensured that Spacebomb's hot-to-trot backing band - centred around (now Fleet Foxes) bassist Cameron Ralston and drummer Pinson Chanselle - supported Blau too, and he came away with an album's worth of tracks, which also featured Blau (guitar, percussion, synth, sax), White (guitar, synth), Phil Cook of MegaFaun (piano) and a wider cast of horns, piano, viola and backing vocals. It's partly where Out Her Space got its name: "It's a cousin to Big Inner," says Blau.