Nashville heavy jammers All Them Witches have issued a new EP, A Sweet Release. With no coincidence as regards the day of its arrival, the mostly instrumental A Sweet Release marks the second EP the four-piece have done since they put out their second full-length, Lightning at the Door (review here), in 2013. Following 2014’s single-song Effervescent (review here), it’s worth noting that, for an EP, A Sweet Release is a full 57 minutes long — longer than either Lightning at the Door or All Them Witches‘ 2012 debut album, Our Mother Electricity (review here).

What makes it an EP, then is the looseness of its spirit. Opening with the 24-minute, three-part, live-recorded “It Moved We Moved/Almost There/A Spider’s Gift,” A Sweet Release is an immediately immersive collection of wandering jams. Both onstage and in the studio, All Them Witches — bassist/vocalist Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod, Fender Rhodes-ist/violinist Allan Van Cleave and drummer/cover artist Robby Staebler (plus King Buffalo guitarist Sean McVay on “A Spider’s Gift”) — have excellent at matching pace and repetition to hypnotic effect, and A Sweet Release stands as another firm example of this, with the rolling “Howdy Hoodee Slank” a wide-open, stonerly soundscape before the quiet “El Paso Sleep on It” urges caution into “Interstate Beach Party,” which oddly earns its title, missing perhaps only “In Space” off the end of it. The shortest cut of the five, “Sweet Bear” (2:26), closes out, a strong current of feedback running underneath to tie together one last bit of purposeful meandering.

Though All Them Witches just once again made Our Mother Electricity available via their Bandcamp, where one can also find the live recording At the Garage and numerous show bootlegs, Effervescent is all but gone, even given the limited tangibility of a digital release. That is to say, they took it down and it’s unknown whether it will show up again. It gives a certain amount of urgency to A Sweet Release — it might not be there forever — and it’s unknown if All Them Witches will press up any physical copies. You never know, but with their concentration turning toward an impending third LP and no doubt a decent amount of touring to support that, it seems unlikely for the time being. Still, the jams are worth checking out while one can.

Some word from the band below, and some tour dates for the showing-up contingent:

It has been a crazy past two years and this upcoming one is going to be a wee bit way more gnarly. Thank you for your support. We play for you. The energy is the fire. Now the important notes: As you prepare to meet your maker, which I encourage you to do on a daily basis, remember – it is important to enjoy this experience. Find another? I think not. There is only one whole – eat it slowly.

– Robby

And some extra garnish: We’ll be sharing a great size of new tunes with you soon. We do mean soon. And then more music. A body of music to be tasted in one big bite which we’ll be calling our new LP is on the horizon. There will be some information about experiences very important to us that we’ll shed some light on for you all soon as well. It’s all coming together!

Now…

TOUR DATES:
April 23 – Winston-Salem, NC – The Garage
April 24 – Asheville, NC – New Mountain Theater
April 25 – Nashville, TN – Lightning 100’s Marathon Block Party
May 22 – Chillicothe, IL – Summercamp Music Festival
June 3 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
June 4 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
June 5 – Vancouver, WA – Levitation Vancouver

https://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/album/a-sweet-release-ep
https://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches

All Them Witches, A Sweet Release (2015)

Tags: A Sweet Release, All Them Witches, All Them Witches A Sweet Release, Nashville, Tennessee, Unsigned bands

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