Versions (Poison the Well album)
Encyclopedia
Versions is Poison the Well
's fourth studio album. It was released on April 2, 2007 in Europe and April 3, 2007 World Wide via Ferret Music. Versions is the first release for Poison the Well on Ferret Music and is also the band's first release since 2003's You Come Before You
.
The trio of Ryan Primack (guitar), Chris Hornbrook (drums) and Jeffrey Moreira (vocals) wrote the album over the past few years. Primack describes the material as having many more colors and nuances than previous work. "The songs are pretty open-ended and there's a lot of unique instrumentation in the background throughout such as mandolins, slide guitar, horns and banjo," he says.
Primack, who plays all of the more unusual instruments on the disc, adds, "This is not out of the blue. We actually started to add these elements to the last album but we didn't have time to flesh them out like with 'Versions'. It's going to be a really different sounding album in hardcore. Well, as different as you can be in hardcore nowadays."
Bonus Tracks:
and all other download platforms. A video has also been released for "Letter Thing", directed by Roboshobo (The Blood Brothers, Mates of State). The video features stop motion animation figures which speak in subtitled Norse runes throughout the video, saying the following:
"The hour grows near; The weak flesh shall be tempered by fire; Face what is yours; With this ring, I thee wed"
Poison the Well (band)
Poison the Well was an experimental hardcore band from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. Guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Chris Hornbrook were the only remaining members of the band who were involved since their inception, although vocalist Jeffrey Moreira was...
's fourth studio album. It was released on April 2, 2007 in Europe and April 3, 2007 World Wide via Ferret Music. Versions is the first release for Poison the Well on Ferret Music and is also the band's first release since 2003's You Come Before You
You Come Before You
You Come Before You is the third full-length album by American experimental hardcore band Poison the Well. It was released on July 1, 2003. It is the band's first and only release on a major label . More than 115,500 copies of the album have been sold in the U.S...
.
The trio of Ryan Primack (guitar), Chris Hornbrook (drums) and Jeffrey Moreira (vocals) wrote the album over the past few years. Primack describes the material as having many more colors and nuances than previous work. "The songs are pretty open-ended and there's a lot of unique instrumentation in the background throughout such as mandolins, slide guitar, horns and banjo," he says.
Primack, who plays all of the more unusual instruments on the disc, adds, "This is not out of the blue. We actually started to add these elements to the last album but we didn't have time to flesh them out like with 'Versions'. It's going to be a really different sounding album in hardcore. Well, as different as you can be in hardcore nowadays."
Track listing
- "Letter Thing" - 2:28
- "Breathing's for the Birds" - 3:41
- "Nagaina" - 4:10
- "The Notches That Create Your Headboard" - 2:30
- "Pleading Post" - 3:36
- "Slow Good Morning" - 5:05
- "Prematurito el Baby" - 2:53
- "Composer Meet Corpse" - 2:30
- "You Will Not Be Welcomed" - 4:46
- "Naive Monarch" - 2:24
- "Riverside" - 3:02
- "The First Day of My Second Life" - 4:53
Bonus Tracks:
- "Wreck Itself Taking You With Me" – 3:21 (European & vinyl bonus track)
- "Oceanbreast" 4:17 – (Japanese bonus track)
Singles
To coincide with a string of headlining dates, and in support of Versions, Poison the Well released the album's opening track "Letter Thing" as a digital-only single on March 13. The single is available via iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and all other download platforms. A video has also been released for "Letter Thing", directed by Roboshobo (The Blood Brothers, Mates of State). The video features stop motion animation figures which speak in subtitled Norse runes throughout the video, saying the following:
"The hour grows near; The weak flesh shall be tempered by fire; Face what is yours; With this ring, I thee wed"
Credits
- Jeffrey Moreira (vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Ryan PrimackRyan PrimackRyan Primack is an original member and guitarist of the band Poison the Well. In 1998 Ryan and original vocalist Aryeh Lehrer founded the band, An Acre Lost which later changed their name to Poison the Well. He originally hails from Philadelphia. He was also in Where Fear and Weapons Meet...
(guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, wurlitzer pianoWurlitzer electric pianoWurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...
and backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
) - Chris Hornbrook (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
) - Jason Boyer (guitar on tracks 4,6,9,11 and 12)
- Pelle Henricsson (percussion, synthesizer, wurlitzer piano, second snare drum and noise on all tracks)
- Eskil Lövström (muu guitar, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, and tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
on tracks 5,8 and 11) - Bradley Grace (live bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) - Bradley Clifford (live guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Brian Montuori (cover artCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
)