This record was supposed to be finished a long time ago, at least that’s what I was thinking until recently. It was supposed to be right the first time, wrapped up neatly and nicely in a few weeks; out of the way so we could get onto the next without much thought or reflection. But that’s not how it worked out, thankfully. It wasn’t all pulling teeth and banging heads against the wall, though at times it mostly felt like that. Ultimately, it was an experiment of simultaneously letting go of things beyond my control, schedules, illness, life more broadly, and fully grasping and realizing the power, maybe for the first time, of all that already within myself and what was made more beautiful in the collaboration with others.
“New Kind Palace” is Tom Conneely & Birds of Paradise’s second full length album, though in many ways, it might as well be the first. The release of the “Sun Child” EP in September 2023 marked a radical shift in both substance and form, as the desire for perfection and clarity was abandoned for muddled drum machines and lyrics that dealt with the painfully obvious facets of life as a means of seeing both the pain and beauty one grapples with on a momentary basis.
“New Kind Palace” builds on the foundations of “Sun Child” - drawing on, while exceeding its through line. After a few ham handed false starts in ill-fitting studios, its 10 songs were recorded in a variety of rooms and homes that belay a homespun quality and intimacy to the music. The recording and production process was entirely one of self-discovery as both myself and Alois Cerbu painstakingly learned the more we handed off parts of the art, the less honest the results. Mostly tracked to quarter inch tape, the music that constitutes “New Kind Palace” is a testament to self-discovery and trust in one’s self while uncovering and facing head on the hysteria of our inner worlds.
"New Kind Palace" by Tom Conneely & Birds of Paradise will be released on September 20, 2024.