eyeland is the fourth full-length studio concept album by American indie folk band The Low Anthem, released on June 17, 2016 on Washington Square Records - an imprint of Razor & Tie, of Concord Bicycle Music.
Recording
The album was recorded in Providence, Rhode Island's Columbus Theatre, over a four-year time span, in the band's own recording studio which they built during the recording and eventually named after the album, Eyeland Recording Studio.[1]eyeland is a cerebral psych-kidnapping noir for Jorge Luis Borges, and features dense sound collage elements in the arrangements. Mastering engineer Bob Ludwig worked on the album.[2] During the recording of Eyeland, The Low Anthem became involved with the plans to re-open the theater in 2012. The band were founding members of the Columbus Cooperative, which runs the theater's programming, such as concerts and film screenings.[3]
Tour and van accident
In July 2016, The Low Anthem were involved in a traffic accident after their tour van was run off the road outside of Washington D.C..[4] Band members Ben Knox Miller, Florence Wallis, and Bryan Minto and the band's sound engineer and tour documentarian received minor injuries from the accident, while Jeff Prystowsky had a severe concussion and was hospitalized.[4][5] The van and most of the band's instruments and gear were destroyed in the accident.[4] The remainder of the tour was canceled following the accident.[6]
The album was commissioned into a script for a play by Trinity Repertory Company that is currently in workshop for full-production in 2018.[7]
Reception
The review aggregator website Metacritic gave eyeland a generally favorable rating of 67 out of 100 based on 11 independent music critic reviews.[8]
The Line of Best Fit, a prominent UK blogger, rated it 8.5 and said, "The Low Anthem's eyeland is a triumph of forward thinking."[9]
