Today, Strand of Oaks announces Harder Love, a collection of Tim Showalter’s unreleased, original recordings for the album Hard Love, for release on January 19th. The announcement comes on the heels of Bruce Warren at WXPN premiering the brand new single, “Passing Out,” last week. The single is officially out today.
Pairing the earliest versions tracks from Hard Love with previously-unreleased material (including some tracks deemed “too weird” for the official release), Harder Love pushes Showalter’s sound to a stranger, rawer place. In many ways, the forthcoming release serves as the tripped out, spiritual brother to its predecessor.
The Westerberg-esque beauty “Passing Out” offers the first peek at some solid, previously-unreleased Strand of Oaks material, and subsequent new tracks (e.g., “Sober,” “Dream Brother,” “Rain Won’t Come”) not only make Harder Love a dynamic listen, but also speak to Showalter’s songwriting versatility. Showalter puts it simply himself: “Life is short and more fucked up by the day…and I don’t want to waste any more time being afraid to be weird and let all my songs out there.”
The 12” physical version of Harder Love is limited to a 500 pressing and features unused and alternative takes from Hard Love. Harder Love will be available digitally worldwide, with two additional bonus tracks available only on the digital version.
Harder Love will also available physically via retailers in limited territories (US and Benelux). There will be copies of the 12” available for purchase at the merch table of this year’s sold out Winter Classic at Philadelphia’s Boot & Saddle, where Strand of Oaks will be playing December 8th, 9th, and 10th.
https://strandofoaks.lnk.to/harderlove
1. Harder Love
2. Passing Out
3. Cry (Alt Version)
4. On The Hill (Alt Version)
5. Sober
6. Dream Brother
7. Rain Won’t Come
8. Wicked Water
9. Chill Tent
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10. On The Hill (Extended) [Bonus Track, Digital Only]
11. Wanna Get Lost [Bonus Track, Digital Only]
Strand of Oaks Tour Dates
Fri., December 8th – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle – SOLD OUT
Sat., December 9th – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle – SOLD OUT
Sunday, December 10th – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle – SOLD OUT
Thursday, January 25th – Bethlehem, PA @ Fowler Blast Furnace Room