25 September 2010 - 0 Comments

Following the extraordinary and critically acclaimed “Tells You To Fight!” (Which in 2008 made it into Nick Bollinger's “100 Essential New Zealand Albums”, won the Alternatui award and featured prominently on many ‘Top 10 Lists’) comes the starkly beautiful and gently disturbing second album, “I Will Raise a Bird Army”, from our very own citizen of the world - Renee-Louise Carafice.

Having recorded her debut at Steve Albini’s (Pixies, Nirvana, PJ Harvey) Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, Illinois, “I Will Raise A Bird Army” instead found Carafice hiding out in the deep recesses of Onehunga at Hill Street Studios, before returning to her newfound nest in Chicago to add some f**ked up magic and production with Xiu Xiu mastermind and mad sound-genius Jamie Stewart.

Delving into the darker regions of the soul for this record, Renee-Louise opted to put down her steel guitar (in fact it had long since been pawned to pay for Chicago survival) in favour of broken-down casiotone keyboards, bent and dented drum cymbals, and chirping wind-up birds – the perfect derelict landscapes to back her world-weary but newly empowered voice. Tales of courage, dumpster diving, and defending oneself against snow and shitheads – the ten new songs contained within are at once forlorn, fragile, and fantastical – with offerings of hope and triumphant battles among the scattershot nightmares and mean streets.

Watch the video for the first single “A Kick To the Head” here. And download the song for free here.

Renee-Louise Carafice’s sophomore album “I Will Raise A Bird Army” is out October 4th on Bird Army Records, distributed in New Zealand by Border Music.

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