News

Birthmark Makes New Album

• 10th Jan 2011

Multi-instrumentalist Birthmark (Nate Kinsella) will be releasing his new album “Shaking Hands” on Feb 20th and touring the UK in January.

Birthmark is the solo project of Chicago-based musician and composer Nate Kinsella. Nate wrote and recorded the second Birthmark album, “Shaking Hands”, over a 3-year period. Evidence of Nate’s songwriting process of recording, editing, and re-recording can be heard in the album’s first two songs, which play as mirror images of each other. After amassing several hard drives of music, Nate finally decided to give himself a deadline to complete the album. He chose the songs that appear on the album from a list of many— more for their differences from each other than for their similarities. The result is “Shaking Hands”, named after a Birthmark song that didn’t make it onto the album. Even though all the music on the album was written by one person, more than a dozen instruments can be heard, all in all more than 20 people contributed their talent in one way or the other.

Nate played in the avant-garde rock bands Make Believe and Joan of Arc for several years before starting a solo project under the moniker Birthmark in 2006. While Birthmark's 2007 debut “The Layer” already made clear that Nate is standing on the same level as his cousins Tim and Mike Kinsella (Joan of Arc, Owen, Cap'n Jazz etc.), the release of “Shaking Hands” certainly takes him one step further on a road all his own. Still relevant to all those who are into “Kinsella”-sounding music, this sophomore release will also appeal to people who like the idea of a more mellow Animal Collective making good use of an acoustic guitar or a version of Panda Bear more influenced by Steve Reich than the Beach Boys. Arthur Russell may also come to mind, not only because of the incredible amounts of music that Nate recorded. Of course, none of these comparisons can do justice to “Shaking Hands”, you'll have to listen to it for yourself and allow it to sink in.