Fischerspooner's Odyssey

We have learned that Odyssey, the follow-up to Fischerspooner's debut #1, will be released on April 5th worldwide. Capitol Records has also commercially released a remix 12" of the lead single "Just Let Go" featuring mixes by Thin White Duke (aka Jacques Lu Cont) and Tommie Sunshine. More info swiped from the press release below:

For their second album, Fischerspooner had a new agenda - to create a cohesive album of songs that were more expressive and emotional than their predecessors, aiming for a rich, warm sound in contrast to the crisp surfaces and digital conceptualism of #1. Inspired musically by classic and psychedelic rock, the familiar Fischerspooner sound is now suffused with analog sounds, live instruments and a lush new ambience. Like the albums that inspired it, Odyssey is a bona fide headphone album, layered with hidden sounds and ideas that reward the close listener. "I was thinking of songs I remembered hearing on the radio as a kid," says Fischer. "That warm seventies FM sound coming off the radio from bands like The Beatles or Pink Floyd."

To that end, Fischerspooner created a "virtual band," bringing session musicians into studios in Brooklyn where Fischer worked with longtime engineer and collaborator Nicholas Vernhes (Fiery Furnaces, Black Dice). In a similar departure from the previous album, Spooner began to reveal more emotion and personal perspective in his lyrics and vocals, thematically pulling from classical and romantic ideas from all eras.

The pair also decided to creatively step outside of their inner circle for the first time with a wish list of likeminded collaborators. Fischer traveled to Los Angeles to work with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air) at the legendary Sunset Sound Studios. And Spooner reached out to the unlikely pairing of hit songwriter Linda Perry and pre-eminent intellectual Susan Sontag in a bid to reflect the twin pillars of their inspiration - high art and pop culture.

But as the emotional and physical toll of many months in the studio began to take hold, tensions over creative balance began to swell. Where #1 was created sporadically, the Odyssey sessions found the two working together intensely in the studio for long stretches, constantly pushing each other further. "We both went a little crazy making the album," says Spooner. "We really had to grow and change as artists, and change is never easy."

In the album's finishing stages the two looked to French producer Mirwais (Madonna's Ray of Light, among others) to help with the final touches. Also adding to the final inspiration was a weekly, private Salon series hosted throughout the summer of 2004 to preview new music, visual ideas and choreography to the Williamsburg art scene that originally spawned the project.

Odyssey, so named for the unexpected emotional and artistic journey it took to make, is a sonic leap forward -- sounding like nothing before it but still unmistakably Fischerspooner.

FISCHERSPOONER, ODYSSEY

1. Just Let Go
2. Cloud
3. Never Win
4. A Kick in the Teeth
5. Everything to Gain
6. We Need a War
7. Wednesday
8. Happy
9. Ritz 107
10. All We Are
11. Circle (Vision Creation New Sun)