Bachelorette
About Bachelorette from Auckland
Quick: What do Ryan Adams; Portland, Oregon; Otaki Beach; The Royal New Zealand Air Force Brass Band, and Australian gamblers have to do with a robotic Cantabrian family
Stumped Each unlikely element played a role in the unusual journey behind Bachelorette’s stellar third album, My Electric Family.
In early 2008, Annabel Alpers, aka Bachelorette, funded her first, and ultimately groundbreaking, United States tour. Along the way, she sold some records to an eager Ryan Adams at a small club in New York City and made fans out of execs from Chicago’s Drag City Records. Between shows, she camped out in Portland, Oregon: ‘Inspired’ by that region’s infamous and constant rain, she found herself intently working on songs for her new album.
Soundly back in New Zealand, Annabel secluded herself in Otaki Beach, where much of the tracking for My Electric Family took place. Intent and focused on realising her musical vision, Annabel enlisted MAINZ’ Roy Martin (The Nothing, Trans Am) and trekked up to Whenuapai to record the Royal New Zealand Air Force Brass Band for backing instrumentals on one track. Finally, after over a year of hard work, Annabel was approached enthusiastically by Chicago’s legendary Drag City Records to put out her new album, My Electric Family. The catch was that she hadn’t finished mixing it. After a muddled attempt at mixing via phone to the USA, Annabel flew down to Dunedin to work with Dale Cotton (HDU, Die!Die!Die!) before jetting off to work as a massage therapist at a gambling tournament in Melbourne.
Bachelorette’s upcoming and heralded full-length release, My Electric Family, will be available in New Zealand on her own label, Particle Tracks, on the 25th of May. This release features a broader instrumentation than Bachelorette’s previous albums, The End of Things (2005) and Isolation Loops (2007). The electronic pulses, synthesizers and gorgeous vocal harmonies that characterise Bachelorette’s sound remain, but are enhanced by extensive live drumming as well as brass, guitar, bass and pedal steel (played by Dino Karlis, Tom Watson, Craig Terris and Andrew Bain, Lee Prebble). This album flows seamlessly from psychedelic pop to dance grooves to the sci-folk lullaby you thought you could only dream of.
Chosen as one of ten artists to watch in 2009, Chicago-based online rag Dusted Magazine jump-started an international buzz – six months before the release of her worldwide-debut. (www.dustedmagazine.com/features/801).
Bachelorette will be playing two fund-raising shows in New Zealand, appearing for the first time with a full band, also accompanying her on her United States tour (Craig Terris (Cassette), Stef Animal (Mestar), Evelyn Morris (Pikelet)).
Bachelorette plays Wellington on Thursday 21st May at Mighty Mighty and Auckland on Friday May 22nd at the Kings Arms.
To support her North American release on Drag City, Bachelorette and her band will then embark on an extensive tour of the US, starting in the end of May, playing 32 shows in 36 days. On this tour, Bachelorette will be playing multiple shows first with the venerable Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, then with indie-music stalwart Bill Callahan, as well as headlining her own shows.
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