IDAHO SHARE “ACROSS THE SKY”

“Across The Sky” is the second single taken from pioneering slowcore band IDAHO's first album in more than 13 years, following the triumphant return with the release of "On Fire" earlier this month. On "Across The Sky," the IDAHO formula is intact: plodding bass, 4-string guitar, and drums drenched in feedback, with half-asleep vocals. "Across the Sky" and "On Fire" are taken from Lapse, available Friday, May 31 via Arts & Crafts. Pre-orders are available now.

Inspired by the desert backdrop of 29 Palms, California, where the 10 new songs of Lapse were recorded, Martin sings to the elemental beauty of the music itself (“The tangerine hues across the sky / will bring the emotion back”), and the enduring resilience of the band’s makeup (“Breaking down is hard to do / when you're built this perfectly”). Long led by the multi-instrumentalist Martin, “Across The Sky” is amongst the most concise yet melodic creations in the deep(ening) IDAHO catalog, an atmospheric visitation with the muse that has ignited more than three decades of passionately slow, mysterious music.



Lapse is the first new album from IDAHO since the cult indie rock band's 2011 release, You Were A Dick. Emerging in the early 90s, often linked to the era’s post-grunge “slowcore” movement, IDAHO is uniquely distinguished by the ragged elegance of Martin's songwriting: the gentle angst of his voice leading the airy/earthen synergy of his aural desertscape. Lapse is engraved with the lush, alien tones of 4-string guitar feedback that are IDAHO’s long-standing signature: rich melancholia lavished by Martin, with bittersweet delivery, on his heartrending, cinematic songs. Lapse is an album about relationships, and relationships based on music: a snapshot of IDAHO's quintessential sound captured in newfound flux. Martin calls Lapse “a harkening back to the beginnings of IDAHO” – not as a “return to form,” but as an evolution of his lifelong pursuit of that magic. An open letter to all who have ever delighted in IDAHO, Lapse is steeped in nostalgia without ever succumbing to it: an album of pure sonic, emotional accrual: a lightning strike destined to enrich the legacy of an already everlasting, yet still undersung band.

“Recording Lapse commenced on January 1, 2022, following a lively New Year’s Eve at the Out There bar in 29 Palms,” says Jeff Martin. “Nursing a rare hangover, I welcomed guitarist Robby Fronzo, fresh from LA, into my mother’s desert house amidst much excited barking from my pit bull Thurmon and producer/engineer Bill Sanke’s pit/lab mix Maggie. Over the next few months, this record took shape, inadvertently paying homage to IDAHO’s past, largely influenced by my collaboration with Robby. Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, Robby reached out to me on Instagram and offered his assistance in completing the demo snippets I was sharing online... Every record since Hearts of Palm in 2000 has been more of a solo effort so the synergy of collaboration is a cool thing to have back in the fray. The high desert setting lent its voice to this LP… how could it not? The colors, textures and endless sky sunsets. Thank you mother Lynda for letting us desecrate your sanctuary for the good part of ‘22. The large living room afforded us a chance to spread out, get loud and let the sound waves develop the way they should. As fate would have it, Bill had to depart, leaving me with the task of mixing the album alone. I often wonder if a professional could have achieved a better result, but nevertheless, I take pride in finally breaking IDAHO’s dry spell.”