Damien Jurado teams up once again with producer Richard Swift for his seventh album on Secretly Canadian.  Maraqopa is a vast, sprawling record, with the tracks veering wildly through different sounds and styles.  Normally, this wouldn’t work, but Jurado and Swift still manage to make Maraqopa sound like a cohesive album, even if it does go from psych-folk to wall-of-sound and everything in between.  Opening track “Nothing is the News” is full of noise and reverb.  Title track “Maraqopa” is more sedate, gentle folk rock; “Reel to Reel” is a slower rock song, with plenty of trippy noises and found sounds floating about in the background. Just FYI, “Life Away from the Garden” features a children’s choir on backing vocals, in case you have any particular feelings about those sorts of things.  (I have strong feelings about children’s choirs, but that is a story for another day.)
Maraqopa is out February 21, on Simply Canadian. Â Preordering the album now gets you an instant download for your listening pleasure. Â Damien Jurado stops by Schubas on May 16th.
Damien Jurado “Nothing Is the News” Official Video from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.
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