About Circles Around The Sun

Photo by Matthew Ream

Circles Around The Sun’s fourth studio album traverses towards galaxies unknown – Language is the sound of a rock band rebounding from unthinkable adversity, moving as one to confidently author their next chapter. Synth-drenched excursions into outer-spatial sound design, the six-song release welcomes guitarist John Lee Shannon to the fold, a longtime peer and tourmate who joins bassist Dan Horne, keyboardist Adam MacDougall, and drummer Mark Levy. 

The forthcoming release builds on the cosmic-disco vibe of 2020’s eponymous LP. The Floydian tongues on Language represent a new dawn, as evidenced by an ethereal title-track featuring harpist Mikaela Davis. The new material finds them oscillating through hybrid strains of disco-funk, soul jazz, and psychedelic rock, harnessing their stylistic lanes into a singular, intoxicating brew.

“We had been partying on other planets for a while when we found our new guy John Lee Shannon. We all got in the studio and played disco ball dodgeball for a while and this is what we came up with. There's a bit of a different arc to Language. The first couple songs are gonna put you in a certain headspace, and then the party happens later on,” notes bassist Dan Horne on the creation of the new record.

The band immersed themselves in sound design research at Horne’s Echo Park studio, Liberty Hair Farm. Longtime creative partners dove into exploration mode, probing the limitless potential of an arsenal of synthesizers, sequencers, and other vintage electronic instrumentation. 

Soon the seeds were sown for Circles Around The Sun’s fourth full-length album Language, dropping Spring 2023. 

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An origin story, for context

In 2015 Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill, invited Casal to compose the intermission music for the Dead’s Fare Thee Well concerts, a victory lap celebrating their final shows. Neal assembled the guys, recorded five hours of jams, and was surprised to find an eager audience and label support from Rhino Records. And Circles Around the Sun was born.

Photo by Mat Dunlap @ PLYRZ Studio

Photo by Mat Dunlap @ PLYRZ Studio

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