‘Lush and Tumble’ by The Civilians | New Album, ‘Lush and Tumble’
Exclusive premiere of the title track to The Civilians’ third full-length album, ‘Lush and Tumble’, out August 24th.
‘Lush and Tumble’ is the third full-length album from acclaimed Seattle band The Civilians. The album’s first single, ‘Harder than the Truth’, was released in June and features longtime Elvis Costello bandmate Steve Nieve on keyboards. The second single, album-opener and title track ‘Lush and Tumble’, roils out of the speakers in a rush of 12-string guitar and pounding drums that set up a soaring signature riff before the band sticks a smooth landing and rolls right into the opening verse. The lyrics are impressionistic and a bit mysterious (in a good way) but, also, emotionally resonant. ‘Lush and Tumble’ conveys a strong sense of the struggle to be resilient under pressure and the fight against physical and emotional claustrophobia (“You want to be free not trapped like the boy in the bubble”). That’s not a coincidence.
“The album was written and recorded during the first two years of the pandemic”, says Civilians’ singer and songwriter Chris Livesay. “We were trying to keep the band together and create new music. Great things were happening one moment (like getting to work with Steve Nieve), then everything would go ass-over-teakettle the next: lockdown, canceled shows, recording sessions getting bumped… It seemed like all the ups and downs got stirred into the pot and came out as ‘Lush and Tumble’”.
To Livesay, the anthemic number sums up both the process of making the album and the collection of songs that comprise the record. “As we hit the home stretch, Lush and Tumble emerged as the clear favorite for the title track”, he says. “It was basically the emotional road map of the entire journey”.
The production and the band’s performance match the title, with lush guitar and keyboard parts weaving in and out in a recklessly graceful flow, pretty-but-not-precious three-part vocal harmonies, and a tumbling, loosey-goosey momentum that propels the song from start to finish. Lush and Tumble is both epic and down-to-earth.
‘Lush and Tumble’ official album release is at the Tractor Tavern on August 24 with Stucky Jackson and Peter Donovan.
Headline photo by Mackenzie Glisson
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