Margaret Glaspy has announced the release of her new album, Echo The Diamond, on the 18th of August via ATO. Today she shares the first taste of the album via the LP’s opening track ‘Act Natural.’ She has also confirmed her return to UK shores this September, touring alongside Half Moon Run before a headline show at London’s Omeara on 20th September. Following this, she will tour North America to support the album, including a hometown show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on 20th of October.
With sea-sawing percussion, and weaving, serrated edge guitar riffs that tether to Glaspy’s wonderful vocal ‘Act Natural’ bursts at the seams with the thrill of infatuation, channelling wonder and wide-eyed bewilderment into her lyrics from the first verse (“Are you a paradise bird?/’Cause violet shines bright in both your eyes/That can’t be natural”).
“‘Act Natural’ is about trying to play it cool when you meet someone remarkable,” shares Glaspy. “I wrote it in the afternoon in the back of a tour bus and the riff came separately when I got home. It is one of my favourite songs on the record to play live.” The video for the track, directed by Phineas Alexander, is a deep dive into Glaspy’s artistic New York City community and a showcase of her love for the guitar.
Echo The Diamond is the third full-length from Margaret Glaspy. It was produced by Glaspy with co-production from her partner, guitarist/composer Julian Lage and is the follow-up to 2020’s Devotion. Echo The Diamond takes its title from a turn of phrase that Glaspy tossed off in the midst of a conversation with Lage. “Bruce Lee once said to be water—if water is in a teacup, it becomes teacup-shaped; if it’s in a glass, then it takes the shape of that glass,” she recalls. “For me, Echo The Diamond is a way of saying ‘shine bright’, ‘be brilliant.’” The album expands on the frenetic vitality of her widely acclaimed debut Emotions and Math—a 2016 release The New Yorker hailed as an album “in which pretty songs often turn prickly, enriched by carefully measured infusions of dissonance and grit.” This time around, Glaspy worked with drummer/percussionist David King of The Bad Plus and bassist Chris Morrissey (Andrew Bird, Lucius, Ben Kweller), recording at Reservoir Studios in Manhattan and embracing an intentionally unfussy process that left plenty of room for spontaneity. “I love music with a big element of risk to it, which was really the heartbeat of this album,” she says. “A lot of what you hear are the very first takes.” Anchored in the raw yet mesmerizing vocal presence and impressionistic guitar work she’s brought to the stage in touring with the likes of Spoon and Wilco, Echo The Diamond holds entirely true to the spirit of its lyrical explorations, presenting a selection of songs both unvarnished and revelatory.
Originally from the Northern California town of Red Bluff, Glaspy first started writing songs at age 15 and soon began honing the potent balance of sensitivity and incisiveness that now imbues her music. In bringing Echo The Diamond to life, she adhered to a songwriting process meant to preserve and amplify her unfettered expression.
Margaret Glaspy tour dates
August:
18th: New York, NY – Rough Trade Records (Instore)
September:
12th: Brighton, UK – Chalk*
13th: London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town*
14th: Bristol, UK – SWX*
16th: Manchester, UK – Albert Hall*
17th: Glasgow, UK – SWG3*
18th: Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club*
20th: London, UK – Omeara (Headline)
28th: Washington, DC – Union Stage
29th: Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
30th: Boston, MA – The Sinclair
October:
2nd: Toronto, ON – Horseshoe
3rd: Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
4th: Detroit, MI – El Club
6th: Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
7th: Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
8th: Milwaukee, WI – The Back Room @ Colectivo
10th: Nashville, TN – Blue Room @ Third Man Records
11th: Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
12th: Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
13th: Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle
14th: Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall
20th: New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
November:
1st: Austin, TX – Antone’s
2nd: Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co
4th: Denver, CO – Ophelia’s
6th: Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
7th: Boise, ID – The Olympic
9th: Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s
10th: Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
11th: Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
13th: San Francisco, CA – The Independent
14th: Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
*opening for Half Moon Run
Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz