Damien Jurado has revealed the release of his third album in the past 12 months, The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania. Along with the news of a new album Jurado is sharing his first foray into label running with the aptly named Maraqopa Records. The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania will be released on Damien Jurado’s Maraqopa Records on May 14th.
The first single from Jurado’s new album, “Helena”, is a slightly jaunty folk ballad with all the trappings of a Jurado classic that gets to the heart of the prolific songwriter’s quarter century of art.
Listen to “Helena” below:
Jurado’s new album contains ten intense stories of people determined not to be broken by dire circumstances. The self-produced album is sonically among Damien Jurado’s most exposed, homespun ambiance and inspired by the dry sound of records like Lou Reed’s The Bells and Paul McCartney’s Ram. Jurado creates his own Twilight Zone, “a middle ground between light and shadow”, a dimension of imagination, of half-remembered dreams and people reaching out to cross into that liminal space between heartbreak and wholeness.
The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania was self-produced by Jurado and sees him backed by multi-instrumentalist Josh Gordon on bass, guitar, drums, percussion and keys.
The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania artwork & tracklist:
01. Helena
02. Tom
03. Dawn Pretend
04. Song For Langston Birch
05. Minnesota
06. Johnny Caravella
07. Joan
08. Hiding Ghosts
09. Jennifer
10. Male Customer #1
DAMIEN JURADO’S EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
July 3 – VIDA festival, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
July 14 – OLT, Borgerhout, Belgium
Oct 28 – Gent – Belgium at Handelsbeurs
Oct 29 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
Oct 30 – Paterskerk, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Nov 01 – Kulturkirche, Cologne, Germany
Nov 02 – UT Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany
Nov 03 – Heimathafen, Berlin, Germany
Nov 04 – Pop Seasons @ Christianskirche, Hamburg, Germany
Nov 10 2021 – Teatro Lara, Madrid, Spain
Nov 11 2021 – Rambleta, Valencia, Spain
Nov 12 2021 – Las Cigarreras, Alicante, Spain
Nov 14 2021 – Teatro Apolo, Barcelona, Spain
Nov 18 2021 – EartH, London, UK
Nov 19 2021 – C-Mine, Genk, Germany
Nov 20 2021 – De Spil, Roeselare, Germany