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MARY LATTIMORE announces ‘Collected Pieces II’

• 3rd Sep 2021

In the afterglow of her acclaimed 2020 album ‘Silver Ladders’ (a year-end favourite of NPR, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and others), Los Angeles-based harpist and composer Mary Lattimore returns with a culminating counterpart release, ‘Collected Pieces II’, out October 29th, 2021 via Ghostly International.
 
Much like its predecessor released in 2017 (‘Collected Pieces’), the limited-edition cassette and digital release features new and previously unreleased material, Bandcamp-only singles, and other obscurities from her recent archives. Selections from both collections (CP I & II) make their vinyl debut in 2022. Lattimore has described the process of arranging these releases as akin to “opening a box filled with memories,” and here that box continues to populate, accessible for both the artist and fans. Evocative material separated by years, framed as a portrait of an instrumental storyteller who rarely pauses, recording and often sharing music as soon as it strikes her. Seemingly in constant forward motion for the last five years since her Ghostly debut, Lattimore glances back for a breath, inviting new chances to live in these fleeting moments and emotions; all the beauty, sorrow, sunshine, and darkness housed within.
 
The lead single and one of the newest tracks in the set, “We Wave From Our Boats“ was improvised during the early days of lockdown in 2020, after Lattimore walked her neighbourhood. “I would just wave at neighbors I didn’t know in a gesture of solidarity and it reminded me of how you’re compelled to wave at people on the other boat when you’re on a boat yourself, or on a bridge or something. The pull to wave feels very innate and natural.” The heart of the track is a somber loop, over top which Lattimore’s synth notes ruminate, each a gentle shimmer of optimism in the most anxious and absurd of days.

Other streaming & pre-order links: https://ghostly.ffm.to/mary-lattimore-collected-pieces-2015-2020
 
A trove of pieces are collected on ‘CP II’, most recorded in the moment, just Lattimore and her Lyon and Healy Concert Grand Harp, contact mics, and pedals. There’s the one about the American astronaut’s homecoming (“For Scott Kelly, Returned To Earth”), the Charlie Chaplin-like character who lost their glasses (“Be My Four Eyes”), and the one named after a quiet cluster of trees by the sea on the island of Hvar in Croatia (Silver Ladders standout “Pine Trees,” here in home recorded form). Like her most affecting work, these songs showcase Lattimore’s gifts as an observer, able to shape her craft around emotional frequencies and scenes. Her power as a musician is rooted in how she sees the world: in vivid detail, profoundly empathic, with deep gratitude for nature and nuance.
 
‘Collected Pieces II’ track list:
A1./01. Mary, You Were Wrong
A2./02. For Scott Kelly, Returned To Earth
A3./03. Sleeping Deer
A4./04. We Wave From Our Boats – Official Video
A5./05. Princess Nicotine
B1./06. Be My Four Eyes
B2./07. What The Living Do
B3./08. Pine Trees (Home Recording)
B4./09. Polly Of The Circus
 
Live dates:
09.23 Chicago,IL @ Plantasia @ Garfield Park Conservatory % 
11.12 Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon * 
11.13 Palm Springs,CA @  The Alibi *
11.15 Phoenix,AZ @ Trunk Space w/ Karima Walker ^
11.17 San Antonio,TX @ The Lonesome Rose w/ Claire Rousay^
11.18 Austin,TX @ Kinda Tropical w/ Claire Rousay, Walt McClements
11.20 New Orleans,LA @ Gasa Gasa ^
11.21 Decatur,GA @ Eddie’s Attic ^
11.23 Nashville,TN @ The Blue Room at Third Man Records w/ William Tyler ^
11.24 Asheville,NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall w/ William Tyler ^
11.26 Durham,NC @ Cat’s Cradle – Back Room w/ Walt McClements ~
11.27 Washington,DC @ Miracle Theater ~
11.29 Philadelphia,PA @  First Unitarian Church – Sanctuary ~
11.30 Brooklyn,NY @ Union Pool ~
12.01 Brooklyn,NY @ Union Pool ~
12.02 Brooklyn,NY @ Union Pool ~
12.03 Kingston,NY @ Tubby’s ~
12.05 Columbus,OH @ Wexner Center for the Arts ~
12.06 Chicago,IL @ Constellation ~
12.07 Chicago,IL @ Constellation ~
12.08 Milwaukee,WI @ Acme Records ~
12.09 Minneapolis,MN @ Icehouse ~
12.10 Iowa City,IA @ Englert Theater ~
12.11 Lawrence, KS @ Lied Center of Kansas~
12.12 Fayetteville,AR @ Clapp Auditorium – Mount Sequoyah~
12.14 Santa Fe,NM @ Meow Wolf ~
12.16 Tucson,AZ @  Club Congress w/ Karima Walker ~
 
% w/ Green-House, Sam Prekop, Claire Rousay + more
* w/ Emile Mosseri
~ w/ Ana Roxanne
^ w/ Walt McClements