(full feature via Louder Sound)

Seattle experimentalists Earth have long dabbled in drone-inflected sonic minimalism. Over the course of their 30 years – and their eight studio albums – they've explored new musical territories and influenced a legion of bands in their wake.

With new album Full Upon Her Burning Lips, Earth – now a duo consisting of founder member Dylan Carlson and percussionist Adrienne Davies – have stripped their sound back to its core. It's still Earth, but it's Earth at their most essential.

"It was definitely a very organically developed record," says Carlson. "I limited the number of effects I used. I always like the limiting of materials to force oneself to employ them more creatively. Previous Earth records were quite lush sounding, and I wanted a more upfront and drier sound, using very few studio effects.

“I wanted this to be a ‘sexy’ record, a record acknowledging the ‘witchy’ and ‘sensual’ aspects in the music… sort of a ‘witch’s garden’ kind of theme, with references to mind-altering plants and animals that people have always held superstitious beliefs towards. A conjuror or root doctor’s herbarium of songs, as it were.

"I feel like this is the fullest expression and purest distillation of what Earth does since I re-started the band."

Here, Carlson takes us through Full Upon Her Burning Lips, one track at a time.

(via New Noise Magazine)

Full Upon Her Burning Lips by Earth is the ninth studio album from the Washington based band founded by Dylan Carlson in 1989. Their latest release sees Carlson playing guitar and bass alongside Adrienne Davies on drums and percussion. Out through Sargent House on May 24th, Full Upon Her Burning Lips is a transcendental journey with stripped down melodies, a rich landscape of sensual instrumentation, and gritty atmosphere of sound.

The album begins with “Datura’s Crimson Veils,” a slow-burning twelve-minute opener. Earthy ambience permeates the ether on this track. “I limited the number of effects I used,” Carlson said in a promo. “I always like the limiting of materials to force oneself to employ them more creatively.”

Adrienne Davies’ easy, simply playing “Exaltation of Larks” propels the motion forward on this track. “I really wanted the drums to be present,” Carlson says. “I felt with previous Earth records that other instrumentation took up so much of the sonic space that the drums were kind of pushed to the side.”

Earth will be headed to Europe this fall in support of their most recent album, "Full Upon Her Burning Lips". Tickets available now at thronesanddominions.com 

NOV 06 Karlsruhe, DE @ Jubez 
NOV 07 Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who Fest 
NOV 08 Rouen, FR @ Le 106 
NOV 10 Bristol, UK @ Trinity 
NOV 11 Manchester, UK @ Gorilla 
NOV 12 Glasgow, SCO @ Classic Grand 
NOV 13 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 
NOV 14 Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny 2 
NOV 16 Brighton, UK @ The Old Market 
NOV 17 London, UK @ EartH 
NOV 19 Paris, BE @ Petit Bain 
NOV 20 Vevey, CH @ Rocking Chair 
NOV 21 Zurich, CH @ Bogen F 
NOV 22 Mezzago, IT @ Bloom 
NOV 23 Bologna, IT @ TPO 
NOV 24 Vienna, AT @ Arena 
NOV 26 Budapest, HUN @ Durer Kert 
NOV 27 Prague, CZ @ Futurum 
NOV 28 Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz 
NOV 29 Berlin, DE @ SO36 
DEC 01 Aarhus, DK @ Tape 
DEC 02 Copenhagen, DK @ Vega 
DEC 04 Dortmund, DE @ Junkyard 
DEC 05 Ghent, BE @ Vooruit

In this too often self-obsessed superficial age when the trivial and the frivolous frequently take precedence over more intimate and meaningful things, how wonderful it is that we have at least got Earth to elevate us above the slime. 

Dylan Carlson’s warm and emotive instrumental tones seem to connect and speak in such a way that vocals are superfluous. For those willing and able to invest in his work the rewards are plenty and precious. 

When Carlson set about laying the building blocks of Earth it was as a minimalist drone outfit, the 2005 Morricone-inspired Hex, signalling a change in musical direction that has extended through albums such as The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull (2008) their latest full length Primitive And Deadly (2014).

full article via CVLTNATION here

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Catch EARTH on the rest of their N. America tour with labelmates, Helms Alee

tickets - thronesanddominions.com

JUN 10 Orlando, FL @ Wills Pub 
JUN 11 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade 
JUN 12 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle 
JUN 14 Richmond, VA @ Gallery 5 
JUN 15 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar 
JUN 16 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s 
JUN 18 Somerville, MA @ ONCE Ballroom 
JUN 19 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge 
JUN 21 Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall 
JUN 22 Detroit, MI @ El Club 
JUN 23 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle 
JUN 24 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry 
JUN 27 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre 
JUN 28 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge 
JUN 29 Boise, ID @ Neurolux

"There are very few bands in which the drummer has such a distinctive style that becomes irreplaceable. Adrienne is one of those drummers, a unique musician, a leader and the spine of one of the most unique bands ever to walk this EARTH!" – Evil Warnings

Earth – Full Upon Her Burning Lips

Earth’s latest is a record that feels curiously intimate and subtly powerful, with as many plainly beautiful parts as hazy, evil-sounding ones. Though the pacing is slow, Full Upon Her Burning Lips isn’t really a record that demands patience from the listener as these songs are immediately accessible, melodic, and feature enough interesting push-and-pull between Dylan Carlson and Adrienne Davies to make it a record meant for foregrounded listening.

full article via bandcamp

via Pitchfork

The minimalist drone-riff masters pare away excess and focus on the seismic repetition that made their best work so resonant, creating a new peak in their long discography.

“I would hear riffs from bands that I liked, and I’d want them to keep playing that riff,” Dylan Carlson recalled recently. “I was always wondering what would happen if you just stuck on that one riff.” That such a simple idea could spawn a varied, lasting musical career seems impossible. Yet over three decades, Carlson’s band Earth have crafted a rich discography by doing just that. Early on, they stretched single chords into minimalist epics—inspired equally by La Monte Young and Black Sabbath—to coin a drone-metal style later perfected by descendents Sunn0))). But even as Earth’s sound has grown since returning from a late ’90s hiatus, Carlson remains infatuated with the power of repetitive riffs. 

Earth's newest album, "Full Upon Her Burning Lips", is OUT NOW. Stream the album in full or purchase here: http://smarturl.it/Earth_FUHBL 

US Store: www.hellomerch.com/collections/earth 
UK Store: sargenthouse.awesomedistro.com/artists/earth 

Info & tickets for Earth's headlining US tour: thronesanddominions.com

For nearly 30 years, Dylan Carlson has occupied an unlikely dual role as a true vanguard of experimental music and an undisputed Lord of the Riff, garnering respect from outer-sound explorers and metal heshers in equal measure.

Here’s a guide to a few of the most essential releases in Earth’s vast discography.
Full here feature via Bandcamp