Leeds date for The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart

Cult American indie pop band The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have announced the release of their fourth album and will precede its release with a short tour of the UK, including a date in Leeds.
Pains of Being Pure At Heart, gig in Leeds.Pains of Being Pure At Heart, gig in Leeds.
Pains of Being Pure At Heart, gig in Leeds.

‘The Echo of Pleasure’ is due on July 14 on the band’s own Painbow label with a limited edition (500 copies) in gold metallic vinyl with gold foil stamped packaging available to pre-order exclusively from the band’s website.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, centred round founding member and songwriter Kip Berman, have long set the benchmark for big-hearted, idealistic pop songs. With ‘The Echo of Pleasure’, The Pains push beyond their many inspirations and embrace their role as indie pop heroes in their own right.

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Showcasing the deft songwriting of frontman Berman, the Pains’ fourth album is their most confident and accomplished.

After three critically-acclaimed records, 2009’s ‘The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’, 2011’s ‘Belong’ and 2014’s ‘Days of Abandon’ received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Guardian and Rolling Stone, they have put together a collection of songs that possess a timeless grandeur.

Berman enlisted Days of Abandon producer Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine, The Killers) to help him record a Pains record like none-other.

He said: “The logistics of it were so different. When I recorded the record, my wife was six months pregnant. We only had a limited amount of time. There was an absolute uncertainty hanging over our heads, but it was also a kind of escape from worry for that time.

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“What’s going to happen when I have a kid? Am I going to be able to go on tour? Is this the last record I’m going to get to make? It’s not a bad thing to be worried when you’re expecting this huge transition of life. If you didn’t feel scared, you’re probably not feeling the right emotion.

“I tried to make the best record I could, knowing it might be the last time.”

The record is augmented by guest vocals, featuring previous Pains collaborators: Jen Goma on ‘So True’ (A Sunny Day in Glasgow), bass guitar by Jacob Danish Sloan (‘Dream Diary’), and horns by Kelly Pratt (Beirut, David Byrne St Vincent).

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s live band consists of long-time guitarist Christoph Hochheim (Ablebody, ex-Depreciation Guild), bassist Jacob Danish Sloan, drummer Chris Schackerman (ex-Mercury Girls, ex-Literature) and vocalist/keyboardist Jess Rojas.

The band will tour the UK this month with an appearance at the Brudenell, in Leeds, on Monday, May 29.

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