21 April 2023 - 0 Comments

Orangefarm has released Inheritance, the gorgeous title track of its forthcoming album as the second single from the new collection.

The haunting, hushed song and its hypnotic, fragrant video follow the earlier release of Settle (In Your Eyes) on Failsafe Records. Both songs are now available on Bandcamp and digital streaming services. The full album is out in June.

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The title track is a hypnotic swirl of echoing guitars and voices, coiled like a double helix. A side-step from Orangefarm's band approach, the song has already been met with spellbound, pin-drop reactions from live audiences.

The single was born when Orangefarm frontman Nigel Mitchell fell upon the cascading guitar pattern, added the vocal melody and immediately felt any embellishments to the fragile music should be kept to a minimum. The studio version emerged as a dreamy duet featuring the harmonies of former bassist Celia McAlpine.

The lyrics came when Mitchell was musing on how he might be coming across in conversation with people and whether that's something he might have inherited from his father and be passing on to his own children. “And maybe in a kind of self-referential sort of way, the song itself is something that I'm going to leave behind.”

Orangefarm has been a fixture of the Wellington music scene for 20 years as a vehicle for Mitchell's songs which have channelled the spirit of classic NZ bands like The Chills, Sneaky Feelings and The Clean, as well as overseas indie touchstones like The Go-Betweens, The Smiths, and Radiohead.

Mitchell's talent for crisp, clear melodies was evident in his first band The Rue in 1985 in Christchurch. There, he met Failsafe Records founder Rob Mayes who became the band's sound engineer. The pair collaborated on recordings and kept in touch after Mitchell migrated north to Wellington where, musically, he has delivered a run of releases under his own name and various others'.

In 2021 and based in Tokyo, Mayes reworked Mitchell's Who is Dianne, his 1988 contribution to Failsafe's South Compilation Deluxe Edition. Inspired by the song, he approached the songwriter with a view to creating a new album, taking it all a little bit more seriously and giving his tunes the full production and release treatment. The album includes contributions from previous Orangefarm-ers - Peter Holm (bass, backing vocals), Karen Apperley (drums), and Vivien Reid (French horn). The album also features legendary drummer Caroline Easther (The Chills, Verlaines, Beat Rhythm Fashion), the aforementioned McAlpine on some tracks, and Mayes himself (additional guitars, percussion, bass, backing vocals).

As producer, Mayes brought his extensive experience into making Inheritance, the album, both cohesive and timeless. Recorded during 2021-22, the album showcases Mitchell's distinctive songwriting style, one delivered in a with a laidback contemplative feel with his warm and understated vocals. Inheritance, the album, will be available on deluxe edition compact disc, and hi-resolution digital download with booklet from the Failsafe Records Bandcamp and Webstore.

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