Portland, Oregon’s Abronia released their third album, Map of Dawn (review here), earlier this year on Cardinal Fuzz and Feeding Tube Records and spent a couple hot weeks in July on the road in Europe supporting it. As Fall comes to the Pacific Northwest, leaves changing color amid the evergreens, the band settle into the post-release comedown, going from, “We just put out a new LP,” to, “We released a record this year.”

The difference in mindset isn’t nothing, especially after a tour like they did, going abroad for what I’m pretty sure was their first time as a band, on the strength of their finest work to-date, living what many in the US continue to think of as ‘the dream’ for celebrating a new release. And hey, the vinyl’s sold out internationally (still some left for North America), so in addition to the aesthetic accomplishments of Map of Dawn, it’s also been well received. You would mark it a win, is what I’m saying.

But that aftermath can be a doldrum stretch for a group. Less going on at home than away, some of the hoopla surrounding the actual release process lessened over time, and so on. So they’ve got a new video for “Plant the Flag,” which is the second cut on Map of Dawn behind the opener “Night Hoarders,” and it’s creative right unto being presented in a box-tv format. I’m assuming that’s a social media thing, but it does cleverly capture more of a phone screen, and it looks different than most of what’s out there and shooting for cinematic in terms of aspect ratios.

Further, the video emphasizes the depth of atmosphere that Abronia have made their own in the spheres of psychedelic Westernism and heavy psychedelia, encapsulating the cohesion with which they bring these ideas together through songwriting quickly in under four minutes. It thereby serves all the more useful as a post-release single to draw in those who either missed the release in May, meant to dig deeper into the record and got distracted by something else — that happens, even with really good records — or who’ve never heard the band before and might not have an idea what they’re about.

Not that “Plant the Flag” is a complete summary, but on Map of Dawn, it is effective in drawing you deeper into the album, and as a standalone it was certainly more than enough that I went ahead and started streaming the full thing again which, if it needs to be said, is not a thing I regret as “Plant the Flag” gives way to “Games” with such fluidity. Maybe you’ll feel the same. Bandcamp player’s near the links at the bottom if you’d like to find out after you watch the video.

Which is right here, followed by some comment from the band and credits and whatnot. Enjoy:

Abronia, “Plant the Flag” official video

Eric Crespo on “Plant the Flag”:

This video was made by our pedal steel Rick Pedrosa. It includes images that we cut out as potential collage fodder for our album covers, but didn’t end up using. For this video he place the images behind glass and poured different colored dyes over the glass.

Video by Rick Pedrosa and Abronia–”Plant the Flag” from the album “Map of Dawn” released on vinyl by Cardinal Fuzz (UK/EU/The World) and Feeeding Tube Records (North America).

Vinyl copies available for North America available at https://feedingtuberecords.com/releases/map-of-dawn/

Vinyl through Cardinal Fuzz (Europe/UK/rest of World) currently Sold Out.

Digital at http://abronia.bandcamp.com

Abronia, Map of Dawn (2022)

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From Portland, Oregon, Abronia are set to travel at the end of this month to begin a round of European and UK shows that includes stops in Croatia, Italy, Germany and France (as well as the UK, duh). They’ll be abroad for 17 dates — a healthy tour, and if I’m not mistaken their first on the continent — and while the impetus occasion seems to be a slot at Supersonic in Birmingham, they’ll also be at Eastfilly Fest in Stuttgart, Germany to close out the run.

Fair enough, and if you’re wondering, yes, I’m having a good time posting all these tour dates the last few weeks. If I told you how I’d missed it, you wouldn’t believe me. All the better to see Abronia get across the Atlantic, since they go in support of their third full-length and finest work to-date, Map of Dawn (review here), newly out on Cardinal Fuzz and Feeding Tube Records.

I’m on board with the whole idea, fine, but my question is whether or not the “big drum” that they use in place of a standard kit will be making the journey or if there’s some contingency in place. Do you ship it ahead of time? Line up a rental or a borrow for the shows? Buy one and use it as a raft to float back? These are logistical questions only the band can answer, and frankly, I’d feel silly if I asked.

Dates from socials:

ABRONIA EURO & UK TOUR

Final European/UK Tour Dates:

Thu.30.6.22 HR ZAGREB – Club Mochvara
Fri.1.7.22 IT BOLOGNA – Freakout
Sat.2.7.22 – IT GAVERIN TERME – Colle Gallo (House Concert)
Sun.3.7.22 DE MUNICH- Neitzsche-Keller
Mon.4.7.22 DE BERLIN -Schokoladen
Tue.5.7.22 DE KUSEL – Schalander
Wed.6.7.22 FR ROUEN – Le 3 Pieces
Thu.7.7.22 UK HASTINGS – The Piper
Fri.8.7.22 UK BIRMINGHAM – Supersonic Festival
Sat.9.7.22 UK LONDON – 229 London
Sun.10.7.22 UK MANCHESTER – Retro Manchester
Mon.11.7.22 UK DUMFRIES – The Venue
Tue.12.7.22 UK BRISTOL -The Lanes
Wed.13.7.22 UK BRIGHTON – The Hope and Ruin
Thu.14.7.22 FR PARIS – Olympic Cafe
Fri.15.7.22 DE SAARBRÜCKEN – The Silo
Sat.16.7.22 DE STUTTGART – Eastfilly Fest

https://www.facebook.com/AbroniaPDX
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https://abronia.bandcamp.com/

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https://cful.bandcamp.com/

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Abronia, Map of Dawn (2022)

Abronia are middle of the night music. If you should encounter the Portland, Oregon, psychedelic Americana troupe’s third album, Map of Dawn outside in the dark, surrounded by insects chirruping, crackling firewood or pre-dawn birdsong, so much the better, but one way or the other, the spirit of the songs is a nighttime spirit. Or at very least, a spirit in which each nuanced twist warrants appreciation, between the guitars of Paul Michael Schaefer and Eric Crespo (also vocals), each extra push behind the commanding vocals of Keelin Mayer, each wispy uncurling of Rick Pedrosa‘s pedal steel, the sundry percussion around Shaver‘s big drum, Shaun Lyvers‘ bass holding it all together and the occasional bit of tenor sax, also courtesy of Mayer‘s lungs. The way one guitar plays to the calm background while the other noodles out the lead line of “Night Hoarders,” or the theatrical poetics of centerpiece “Wave of the Hand,” or the way the big-drum rhythmic pattern of the subsequent “What We Can See” becomes subsumed by layers of melody, even as those layers follow the pattern, before Crespo and Mayer‘s shared verse gives over to hand drums and pedal steel with that strum still behind.

Each instrument throughout the seven-song/39-minute spread dances out in layers, each layer linked to a performance. You can trace the layers as you go, follow any number of paths as you listen. You can walk through Map of Dawn any way you want. The sun’s coming up no matter what. A solidified lineup has allowed Abronia room to grow as a unit and they have not squandered that opportunity.

As the follow-up to 2020’s The Whole of Each Eye (review here) and 2017’s Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands (review here), Map of Dawn bears a confidence of approach befitting the group’s five years of experience. For sure they’re still exploring new reaches here, new ways of harnessing mood in their sounds — atmosphere is and has been paramount, if it needs to be said, but Mayer as a singer is able as well to convey a range of emotion, which is why “Wave of the Hand” works — toying with Morricone and a creeper riff on “Games” after the heavy folk of “Plant the Flag” pays off in a single, sudden burst, which in itself feels pretty daring, or the way in which the penultimate “Invite Jeffrey Over” leaves so much empty room even with the pedal steel humming deep in the mix like a Hammond organ otherwise might.

Map of Dawn might play to a similar style as Abronia‘s past offerings — like cult rock if the cult was the mythologies of the American West — but it does so with a firmer grasp of intent. Certainly Shaver‘s big drum is a consistent distinguishing presence, the band eschewing a full kit in favor of forcing the hand of creativity in terms of percussion. That can mean a shaker here or a tambourine there, which can change the entire effect a given song has on the listener, so the “drums” in terms of the-part-of-a-track-where-someone-is-banging-on-or-shaking-something become no less of an arrangement element than pedal steel, adding to the complexity of the material even as they remove one of rock’s most common standbys.

Being one of three songs over six minutes long — the others are “Invite Jeffrey Over” (6:06) and the subsequent closer “Caught Between Hives” (8:24) — it’s obvious going into Map of Dawn that “Night Hoarders” is meant to draw the listener into the world the band are portraying, and so it does. By the time it’s two minutes in, Mayer‘s vocals are echoing out noted proclamations and the guitars are strumming in seeming triumph while the pedal steel follows their root notes, then the sax notes blow and they shift into a drippy, Dead Meadow-style wah lead. You understand at this point that the song is halfway over. It spins like a loom, steady. The transition back to the verse and the declarative chorus is easily enough made, sax included, there’s a stop before the last reprise, then the drum gradually drops out and the guitars (pedal steel included) carry out the last minute quietly.

Comparatively, the uptempo start of “Plant the Flag,” with its vaguely surf rock outset feels like a stark turn, but it’s not. Crespo joins Mayer in the verse lines, setting up “What We Can See” on side B, and Abronia build on the work they’ve already done establishing the ambience in “Night Hoarders,” subtly moving from building that world to inhabiting it and having already brought the audience into that experience as well. They peruse different breadths in “Games,” in “Wave of the Hand” with its midsection freakout wash feeling all the more vital for being the album’s midsection, then cutting to the track’s all-in ending. Each song is a potential highlight depending on the path you’re walking, which layer you’re following.

The pairing of “Invite Jeffrey Over” and “Caught Between Hives” feels intentional, and the latter provides an ending that is resonant to the proceedings as well as a sonic payoff. More controlled than the wash of “Wave of the Hand” but coming apart in a way that feels suitably organic at the finish. I’d add “What We Can See” to the concluding salvo, as well. While it’s somewhat shorter, its specifically ’60s psychedelia is a standout moment as a showcase for Mayer‘s and Crespo‘s voices working together and for the range of what Abronia bring to their aesthetic palette, harnessing ideas of desert mysticism and lysergic hypnosis while building a tension soon enough to be dropped outright in favor of the shift to the quiet start of the soon-to-be-plenty-intense “Invite Jeffrey Over.”

It’s a moment where Abronia prove they can do whatever they want from their sonic foundation. They know who they are as a band and they understand how to manifest that in a studio setting. Map of Dawn isn’t a record a band could make their first time out, but it could make a vital introduction to new listeners. The manner in which it engages their half-decade of growth, their process of sorting out their identity, and the way it still looks ahead to what might come are little if not an invitation to follow along. Whichever route you go, whichever evocative layer catches your fancy, go safely. Don’t twist an ankle while you dance the sunrise.

Abronia, Map of Dawn (2022)

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