Thirteen Cities, Richmond Fontaine’s seventh and most recent studio recording, sees the band leave their native Portland, Oregon, for the dry desert climate of Tucson, Arizona to produce and record at the Wavelab Studios. Calexico and Giant Sand, whose members contribute to Thirteen Cities, record there; as have Neko Case, Steve Wynn, and The Sadies. Their inspirations and the soul of the South West of America are found throughout the album.
Thirteen Cities follows on from the sparse, stripped down, “The Fitzgerald†(2005) and the alt country classic “Post To Wire†(2004). The album was produced once again by JD Foster (Calexico, Richard Buckner, Laura Cantrell), who was at the helm for the last two albums. Working with Foster and the Wavelab studios the band were finally able to get everything in place to realize their vision of a perfect album. Multi-instrumentalist Paul Brainard again steps in for pedal steel and piano and the core line up of Willy Vlautin (guitars, vocals), Sean Oldham (drums, vocals), Dave Harding (Bass) and Dan Eccles (guitars) remains.
While exploring the blurred edges of society, the music has evolved sonically and has added a diverse array of instrumentation and arrangements. Joey Burn’s accordions on the stirringly beautiful instrumental “El Tiraditoâ€, a Calexico horn section on the opener “Moving Back Home # 2â€, organs, mandolins, glockenspiel, pedal steel, dobro and vibes feature across the album. The sheer range of the record, from the sparse Dylanesque of “I Fell Into Painting Houses…†to the climaxing theatrical rocker of “Four Wallsâ€, makes Thirteen Cities the bands most ambitious album to date.
Vlautin’s literate lyrical style landed him a publishing deal last year with Faber & Faber which saw the publication of his first novel “The Motel Life†- already on its second print run. 2007 sees “The Motel Life†being published in Australia, France, Holland, Germany and Spain.
"THE MOTEL LIFE" has just been released in the United States!! For more info go to www.willyvlautin.com or go to your nearest bookstore
