This year marks the 20th anniversary of Matt Pond PA’s Several Arrows Later. To celebrate, the band is reissuing the album with additional acoustic versions and demos, and performing special shows on the East Coast and in the Midwest this November.
As a trio with strings, they will perform songs from their critically acclaimed album — including “Halloween,” “So Much Trouble,” “Brooklyn Stars” and “Several Arrows Later” — alongside other favorites from their catalog and new songs Matt co-wrote with his wife, Anya Marina. They’ll also be releasing a 20th-anniversary limited edition of the album, available at all shows.
Several Arrows Later, beloved by mpPA fans, served as a kind of fulcrum in Matt’s musical life. He was hitting his stride as a songwriter—one who constantly mines the natural landscape, and that of the heart. The album resonated deeply with those who already followed his work, as well as new listeners, with whom his intentions seemed to click.
“When this album came out, that was when I really started seeing people singing along to the songs, and they were showing me tattoos of lyrics,” Matt says. “I wanted to start a modest movement where people believed in their imperfections. And humbly, I believe it worked.”
He says he wrote the album in a “small green room” in Brooklyn. “All my gear was stacked to the ceiling. There was a small path to the bed, and that's where I'd sit with my notebook and tape recorder. I was invigorated by the good and the bad of it all. I was embracing how I didn't fit in—how I will probably never fit in. To me, the album is a celebration of that realization.”
A murderous girl with a spine of steel. An asteroid hurtling toward a ruminating woman. Shards of glass leading to a dark, friendly place.
Welcome to the provocative vision of singer-songwriter Anya Marina’s stunning new album Asteroid, her most assured work yet. Almost two decades into a distinctive career encompassing songs featured in Twilight: New Moon, Gossip Girl, and Grey’s Anatomy, an award-winning web series (Anya Marina: Indie-pendent Woman), seven albums, three EPs, and extensive touring with artists ranging from Jason Mraz to Spoon to superstar standup Nikki Glaser, the riveting performer / creative powerhouse is looking back, taking stock in song. Marina calls Asteroid “a coming-of-age story about a late bloomer. This record is about growing up, becoming fully who I am, and celebrating it.”
Most of Asteroid came fast on the heels of Marina’s relocation to the Hudson Valley. What she describes as “melodies that sound like strange Disney album B-sides, or bizzarro cousins of cabaret, classical music, Bossa nova, or jazz,” arrived quickly, “like tuning into a faraway frequency on a radio dial.”
Whereas Marina’s previous studio release Queen of the Night (2020) was recorded piecemeal over months and featured layers of synthetic sound, Asteroid came together quickly, mostly in the Woodstock, NY barn studio of producer / guitarist Kevin Salem (Rachael Yamagata, Mike Doughty), who favors a more organic, spare approach.
The deft humor in much of Asteroid is no accident. Touring since 2019 with friend and former roommate, comedian Nikki Glaser, has made a big difference in Marina’s life, both personally and artistically. “Opening for Nikki has made me a better performer and songwriter,” Marina says. “I’ve learned to crystallize things better, get to the point. Playing to 2,000 comedy fans can be very daunting. It will whip you into shape fast. I love it.”
With Asteroid, Marina feels comfortable in her own skin at last, excited to begin again. “Something about these songs feels young,” she says. “I’m finally learning how to take care of myself, how to say no to certain things, how to be more involved in the recording process. I wanted to make the album of my life. And I’ve done that, hands down.”
bathtub cig, is the Minneapolis based intimate depression pop project of Hilary James. Their 2018 debut EP "Old Light" draws comparisons to a synth-pop version of Frankie Cosmo with raw lyrics and catchy melodies. 2021 EP "bed" is both a dream-like and hazy musing on the global pandemic, as well as a heartbreaking attempt to cope with grief of the loss of a friend to addiction. bathtub cig's 2022 debut full length "Night Blindness" has been described as a clever and dark Gen Z Ode, putting out hardest thoughts into music. It was voted an essential Minnesota Album and the band was voted "Picked to Click".
Their last release, “Good Mourning, I Love You” which made its way into the world on September 5, 2024 (self-released) is a doozy of an E.P., not a moment is wasted- it packs as much emotional punch as some double LPs might hope to strive for. Cheeky humor and delectable hooks, trademarks of Bathtub Cig, digs even further into their disarmingly open style, and guides us like a loving friend through songs that chronicle life’s most excruciating details: death, heartbreak, disappointment, and anger.
A companion EP to “Good Mourning, I Love You”, will be out in the world later this November, entitled “You can Smoke if it’s Hospice”.
