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.