If gravity is strong enough, at the end of time our universe will collapse, pulling all of existence back down to infinitesimal size, like before the Big Bang. But if expansion outpaces gravity, eventually

the universe will be cold and empty--all light, heat, and connection will be gone.

That possibility is called The Big Freeze.

 

Recorded in her childhood home during the dead of winter, The Big Freeze represents a pivotal step for New York songwriter Laura Stevenson. Despite her pedigree in the punk and indie rock scenes, and the occasional inclusion of a backing band (like the sprightly, C86-inspired pop track “Dermatillomania”), for the first time on record Stevenson’s voice and guitar are in clear and highlighted focus.

 

It is a natural aesthetic choice for the musician, who has often toured as a solo act and who pulls influence from the great American songbook, and a choice that plays to the core strength and organic beauty of her writing.

And though it is easily the darkest and most emotionally-devastating album of Stevenson’s career,

it is also without a doubt her most powerful.

 

Stevenson builds on her own private worlds with choruses of multi-tracked voices, swarms of cellos, French horns and violins; orchestration that blooms and swells throughout each intimate performance. Exploring thematic ideas of distance and misconnection; worlds pulling apart,

aching loneliness, and attempts to drive out hibernating dormant demons. 

 

In the opening track Stevenson’s voice insists the listener “lay back with arms out, all-in, unfeeling,” to allow themselves to sink into a flood of instrumental sound that thrums between dissonance and resolution.

From waves crashing in an abandoned waterpark on the haunting “Value Inn”, to the last leaves trembling before winter sets in on “Rattle At Will”, a creeping sense of isolation and anxious beauty surrounds every song. And yet there is also warmth, and hope.

The album’s third track “Living Room, NY” tells of an intercontinental love and longing which seems to have the strength to thrive despite even the most trying and impossible of circumstances. Across ten tracks, the listener will travel through the cold night, following after a small but

powerful flame burning from the other side.

 

Stevenson is a songwriter whose strengths have gone unsung for far too long, but The Big Freeze is likely to change that.

At times you will be reminded of classic American songwriters from both the mainstream and the fringe, whether it’s Jason Molina, Judee Sill, Harry Nilsson or Dolly Parton. But always you will be reminded of the power of the human voice (and a single guitar) to invoke the universe.

Or in this case, it’s end.

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LIVE DATES

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North America

3.14 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
5.3 – Washington DC @ Black Cat
5.12 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
5.14 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore
5.15 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
5.17 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill
5.18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theatre
5.22 – Boston, MA @ Sinclair
5.23 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
5.24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
5.25 – Burlington, VT @ Arts Riot
5.29 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
5.30 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
6.3 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
6.5– Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
6.6 – Madison, WI @ Memorial Union Terrace

at University of Wisconsin

16.6 - Bethel NY, @ Mountain Jam Festival

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 Europe & UK

JUN 19 @ Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands

JUN 20 THU @ Camden Assembly, London, United Kingdom

JUN 21 @ Patterns, Brighton, United Kingdom

JUN 22 @ The Cavern, Exeter, United Kingdom

JUN 23 @ Brudenell, Social Club Leeds, United Kingdom

JUN 25 @ Broadcast, Glasgow, United Kingdom

JUN 26 @ Gullivers, Manchester, United Kingdom

JUN 27 @ The Exchange, Bristol, United Kingdom

JUN 28 @ Kraspek Myzik, Lyon, France

JUN 29 @ Mare Culturale Urbano, Milano, Italy

JUL 3 @ Whelan's, Dublin, Ireland

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B I Z Z A R R E

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