In Virus Times is an acoustic instrumental piece by Lee Ranaldo. Composed during the pandemic, In Virus Times will be released as a 1-sided LP with an etching on Side B.

The cover is a beautiful photo by Lee’s friend, the great Brazilian photographer Anna Paula Bogaciovas. Originally released as one track as part of a collaboration with Lucien Jean for Le Presses du Reel, the music was featured on a mini CD that accompanied a book that featured 2 short stories.

In Virus Times, released by Mute, sees the track transformed into 4 pieces and is available on Limited Edition 12” Transparent Turquoise Vinyl with an exclusive poster designed, signed and individually numbered by Lee Ranaldo. The poster design is based on an electron microscope photo of the Covid-19 molecule.

TRACK LISTING

A1 In Virus Times - Part 1
A2 In Virus Times - Part 2
A3 In Virus Times - Part 3
A4 In Virus Times - Part 4

“If you live long enough, you see a lot of people drift in and out of your life,” says Lee Ranaldo, explaining one of the loose themes linking the adventurous pieces that compose his and collaborator RaülRefree’s electrifying new album: that of the ineffable course of time, and the lives that pass in and out of one’s own.

In a remarkable career that has seen him flourish as a songwriter, a singer, a guitarist, a noisemaker, a poet, a visual artist, a producer, and more, Ranaldo has seen many fellow quixotics – from his bandmates in Sonic Youth to this most recent collaboration with RaülRefree, whose restless career had taken him from hard-core bands in his youth, to the vanguard of a new movement redefining flamenco. One of the most renowned producers in southern Europe, his collaboration with Rosalíaon her debut album has shaped both the modern sound of flamenco and her new found stardom.

Following their collaborative work on 2017’s Electric Trim which saw Refree in the guise of producer and the subsequent tours supporting that album, they went back into the studio but the duo quickly realised they weren’t recording a new Lee Ranaldo solo album, but rather their first as Lee Ranaldo and Raul Refree – “the beginning of a new partnership, a new configuration’”, Ranaldo says. “We’re a two-headed machine,” adds Refree. “We’re both talking about everything. We don’t always agree on everything, but every song, every piece, every sound you hear comes from two people talking about it.”

TRACK LISTING

Alice, Etc
Words Out Of The Haze
New Brain Trajectory
Humps
Names Of North End Women
Light Years Out
The Art Of Losing
At The Forks 

Electric Trim was recorded in New York City and Barcelona in collaboration with producer Raül ‘Refree’ Fernandez and extends the work of Ranaldo's solo canon, the most recent being his 2013 album, Last Night On Earth.  

Through his collaboration with Fernandez, Ranaldo moves into some rich new sonic territories and production techniques, experimenting with electronic beats and samples alongside live players

Ranaldo is a co-founder of Sonic Youth, a visual artist, producer and writer. In addition to Fernandez, he worked with several special guests on Electric Trim, including Sharon Van Etten who sings on six of the tracks and duets on ‘Last Looks’ and Kid Millions (aka Man Forever) as well as longtime friend and collaborator Nels Cline (Wilco). In addition, the album features Ranaldo’s band The Dust (fellow Sonic Youth member Steve Shelley, guitarist Alan Licht, and bassist Tim Luntzel).  

Ranaldo collaborated with award winning New York author Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn / The Fortress of Solitude) for lyrics on six of the songs and the American artist, Richard Prince, who previously painted the sleeve for Sonic Youth’s 2004 album Sonic Nurse, created the artwork for the album.

TRACK LISTING

Moroccan Mountains
Uncle Skeleton
Let’s Start Again
Last Looks (with Sharon Van Etten)
Circular (Right As Rain)
Electric Trim
Purloined
Thrown Over The Wall
New Thing

The sessions for this album came about by coincidence. In April 2013 The Dust were on tour in Europe. We had an unusual show scheduled at a small festival out in the desert near Marrakech, Morocco, which fell in the middle of our tour, and which fell through, as these things often do, at the very last minute, just days before the gig was to take place. It left a big hole right in the middle of our tour.

To the rescue came our Spanish tour promoters, Carles and Jordi, who secured for us an apartment in Barcelona for the week, and suggested that we use our downtime to do some recording in a small studio there.

The band had a small handful of acoustic shows under our belt by this time, and we were keen for the opportunity to try some recordings in an acoustic setting. Acoustic Dust!

We hooked up with Raül Fernandez Refree, our engineer for the sessions. Raul was great in the studio and we all immediately became fast friends. Another friend from Portugal, João Paulo Feliciano was also in Barcelona at the time, and we invited him in to add some Hammond Organ.

In four or five days we tracked 14 or 15 songs, choosing some from my album ‘Between The Times And The Tides’, plus a few from the record we were still working on at the time, ‘Last Night On Earth’, and some cover songs too.

After the sessions we hit the road again with our electric instruments to finish our tour, and slowly over the following months plans were made for Raul to mix the music for release. You hold in your hands the fruits of those acoustic days in Barcelona, I hope you enjoy them” - Lee Ranaldo (New York City, August 2014).

“A solo record works best when you feel like you’re opening a window into somebody’s life, experiencing the things they’re going through or thinking about, places they’re seeing, through their eyes. At its best, you find a universality in it.” - Lee Ranaldo

Lee Ranaldo and his family were among the lucky Manhattanites left relatively unscathed by Hurrican Sandy in 2012, but for a week, they had no electricity, running water or heat. He did, however, have an acoustic guitar and, as has been the case of late, some new songs began spilling out of it, reflecting a prolific period imbued with eerie uncertainty. · Ranaldo had finished work on his last album, Between The Times And The Tides’, before Sonic Youth went on hiatus in the Autumn of 2011. The record followed an informal period of songwriting, borne of acoustic guitar fiddling and more direct lyrics from a poet known for emotive abstraction. His plans to record a low-key acoustic album soon evolved and many friends (Steve Shelley, Alan Licht, Nels Cline, Jim O’Rourke, Bob Bert, John Medeski, wife / artist Leah Singer) dropped by to conjure a vaguely psychedelic pop-rock sound that served Ranaldo and SY fans well.

A core unit came together, getting tighter after some roadwork, and soon Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Alan Licht, and bassist Tim Lüntzel became The Dust. The band dug in at Echo Canyon West through the winter, evolving a new set of songs with a decidedly more group dynamic. Yet even though he was tracking new songs with the band (plus the always-welcome Medeski), Ranaldo wanted to present songs that were even more personal and adaptable to various live contexts.

The songs on this album are darker, longer, and more intense than those of its predecessor, which was comparably upbeat. Despair and rage ripple through its atmosphere, but are held at bay, never quite able to touchdown. Ranaldo lives near Zucotti Park, which was HQ for NYC’s Occupy Wall Street movement. He has visited Occupy encampments in Toronto, São Paulo, and wherever else he can, often bringing his kids with him so they can witness left wing, non-violent democracy in action. Unlike his last record’s ‘Shouts’, there is no specific tribute to OWS, but there is a yearning for some real, societal shift. “Every time I wait for the revolution to come,” Ranaldo sings on ‘Home Chds.’ “Every night I think it?s here and then it?s gone.”

At the same time the songs on ‘Last Night On Earth’ reveal a guarded optimism. The term ‘hope’ has been politically co-opted and devalued but it’s a key element on ‘Last Night On Earth’. Ranaldo sings of land and water and love and certainty - external life forces that can turn on us at any second - from an exploratory, inviting place of coexistence.

Lee Ranaldo is a founding member of Sonic Youth, now in 32nd year. Although songwriting and performing with his band The Dust (Steve Shelley, Alan Licht, Tim Lüntzel) is his current focus, Lee also premiered a new work, ‘Hurricane Sandy Transcriptions’, for Berlin-based string ensemble Kaleidoskop (with Lee on guitar) at the Holland Festival in June 2013, with more performances to follow in spring 2014. Lee continues to perform experimental events with partner Leah Singer as well. Their recent live performances have been large scale, multi projection quadraphonic sound & cinema events, with Lee performing suspended electric guitar phenomena.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Lee Ranaldo surprised with the classicist nature of his debut album in 2012. Here he stretches out, getting darker and deeper, with some inspired guitar playing and moodier songs. It's excellent.

Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo puts out his first proper, song-oriented studio album this March. Recorded with longstanding Sonic Youth producer John Agnello, the album is a shimmering and melodic tapestry of rock sounds.

Ranaldo’s trademark alternate-tuning guitar work is at the forefront, but it is amplified by brilliant leadwork from Wilco’s Nels Cline on every track.

The all-star line up also includes Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums, Alan Licht on guitar, and John Medeski on keyboards.

There are also cameos from original Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert and producer and instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke.

‘Between The Times And The Tides’ is equal parts smart, confident and loose in a manner that recalls some of our favourite rock ‘n’ roll projects …yet sounds like a fantastic new band that was apparently being assembled right under our noses.

With lyrics plumbing Ranaldo’s childhood and adolescence, it’s a fascinatingly approachable song collection from one of rock’s greatest guitarists.

“Sonic Youth’s Dark Horse finally emerges into a role that plenty of SY fans wish he’d embraced earlier. '60s and ‘70s Los Angeles rock is a fine reference point for Ranaldo's music, even with the chiming guitars that are strictly New York” - Village Voice

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: I know what you're thinking - a Lee Ranaldo solo album, experimental and difficult - but you couldn't be further from the truth. ‘Between The Times And The Tides’ is packed full of melodic gems, with angular chiming guitars aplenty, as you'd expect from the Sonic Youth man. Highly recommended!