Melbourne’s Jen Cloher has announced her new album to be released Friday 11th August via Milk! Records / Remote Control. The fact that the fourth album from Jen Cloher is self-titled speaks volumes.
On the first single from the album, ‘Forgot Myself,’ Cloher writes unflinchingly about the sacrifices and difficulties of maintaining a long-distance relationship. The accompanying video is being premiered today by Bob Boilen on NPR’s All Things Considered.
Of the song’s inspiration, Cloher said “You want to be with your partner celebrating big moments in their life but at the same time you have your own life to live thousands of miles away. It’s easy to stop taking care of yourself. Easy to forget yourself.”
A letter in triplicate addressed to the themes of love, music and Australia, Jen Cloher is the culmination of a period of artistic and personal growth in which the artist took her rightful place as a punk-rock figurehead of Melbourne’s famous DIY music scene. She is an outspoken advocate for artist rights and co-founder of the incredible Milk! Records label, which includes the likes of Courtney Barnett and Fraser A. Gorman among its luminaries. Since 2013 Cloher’s output has been increasingly sharp-witted and poetic, with her last album, the critically lauded In Blood Memory representing an artistic apex for the artist and garnering her a prestigious Australian Music Prize nomination.
Set for release on Friday 11th August through Cloher and Barnett’s own label Milk! Records, Jen Cloher represents another quantum leap forward for the artist. Recorded amidst the rolling greenery of South-Eastern Australia and mixed at Jeff Tweedy’s famous Loft Studios in Chicago, the songs are split by Courtney Barnett’s extraordinary lead guitar and anchored by the rhythm section of Bones Sloane and Jen Sholakis. The end result is bold, assured, and piercingly observed, seeing Cloher face up to painful truths with unwavering honesty and emerge triumphant. On tracks like ‘Analysis Paralysis’ and ‘Shoegazers’, Cloher dissects the complacency of privilege, while on the stirring anthem-to-be ‘Strong Woman’ she looks to her Maori heritage of women warriors, proud that her Mother “wanted respect more than love.”
This is Cloher at her most incisive and witty, cutting and expressive, and represents possibly her most stunning body of work to date.
Jen Cloher – Upcoming Tour Dates
AUSTRALIA
Thurs 24th August – Brisbane @ The Foundry
Fri 24th August – Sydney @ Oxford Art Factory
Sun 3rd September – Fremantle @ Mojo’s Bar
Fri 8th September – Melbourne @ Howler
Sat 9th September – Adelaide @ Jive Bar
UK/EUROPE
Wed 20th September – Hamburg @ Reeperbahn Festival
Fri 22nd September – Amsterdam @ Indiestad Festival
Sat 23rd September – Paris @ Olympic Cafe
Sun 24th September – Ghent @ DOK
Mon 25th September – London @ The Lexington
Thurs 28th September – Leeds @ Headrow House
Fri 29th September – Manchester @ The Eagle Inn
Sat 30th September – Margate @ By The Sea Festival
Sun 1st October – Cardiff @ SWN Festival
USA AND CANADA
Note: Supporting Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile
Wed 11th October – San Diego @ House Of Blues
Sat 14th October – LA @ Cathedral
Wed 18th October – Oakland @ Fox Theatre
Fri 20th October – Portland @ Arlene Schnitzer Hall
Sat 21st October – Seattle @ The Moore
Wed 25th October – Minneapolis @ Palace Theatre
Thurs 26th October – Chicago @ Rockerfeller Chapel
Mon 30th October – Detroit @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
Tues 31st October – Toronto @ Massey Hall
Wed 1st November – New York @ Beacon Theatre
Fri 3rd November – Philadelphia @ Tower Theatre
Sat 4th November – Boston @ Orpheum
Thurs 9th November – Nashville @ Ryman Auditorium
Fri 10th November – Dallas @ McFarlan Memorial Auditorium
Sat 11th November – Austin @ Moody Theatre