Asphodels The Veils

• 1 Asphodels 03:30
• 2 O Fortune Teller 03:57
• 3 The Ladder 03:13
• 4 The Dream of Life 03:27
• 5 Mortal Wound 03:16
• 6 The Sum 02:47
• 7 Melancholy Moon 03:46
• 8 Concrete After Rain 03:47
• 9 A Land Beyond 02:50
• Total Runtime 30:33

Info for Asphodels

Asphodels, the seventh studio album from The Veils, was recorded live to tape over five days at Roundhead Studios in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Veils debut album The Runaway Found turned 20 last year which provided lead singer/songwriter Finn Andrews with a healthy dose of existential dread. "I feel as though this album is the end result of a now disconcertingly long career in music," he says. "I think after your 7th album, much like turning 40, you should really just stop counting. I've learned a lot along the way, which I suppose is the whole point, and I've really distilled it all into these 9 songs. As always, I really just write about love and death - it's a compulsion - and that is once again the case here. But I feel as though I've never been able to express this stuff rattling about in my brain quite as directly until now. I have rarely felt proud of anything I've made for very long, but this one feels different. It's built on a strong foundation I think."

The album takes its name from the Ancient Greek flower of the Underworld, and lyrically, Andrews draws more from the great poets than he does from the well of more traditional rock and roll songwriters. The collaboration between Andrews and string arranger Victoria Kelly is a central aspect of the record, and as with the band's previous album "And Out Of The Void Came Love", Kelly plays an integral role in bringing the songs to life. Andrews says "I really wanted the string arrangements to behave like another member of the band. We even fleshed the character out, like an actor playing a role. It's this collaboration with Vic that is really at the centre of this record I think."

"This album is like the ballad during a musical – it is perhaps slower or softer compared to the punchy opening number but the ballad is often the song that is the most appreciated and remembered for the emotions instilled in the audience. This is a great show of musicality, as artists it is always appreciated when they can instil a larger range of emotions within us rather than sticking with the same sound. I hope I will have the privilege to see these played live at a piano!" (Jemma Sharpe, whenthehornblows.com)

The Veils
Cass Basil, bass
Dan Raishbrook, lap steel, guitar
Liam Gerrard, piano
Joseph McCallum, drums
Smoke Fairies, backing vocals
Victoria Kelly, strings arrangements

The Veils
Since being signed to Rough Trade when lead singer Finn Andrews was 16 years old, The Veils have now released six studio albums: The Runaway Found (2004), Nux Vomica (2006), Sun Gangs (2009), Time Stays, We Go (2013), Total Depravity (2016), …And Out Of The Void Came Love (2023) and two EP’s, The Troubles of the Brain (2011) and The Abbey Road EP (2013). Finn’s debut solo album One Piece At A Time was released in 2019.

The Veils have toured consistently throughout their twenty year history and garnered a formidable reputation as one of the world’s greatest live bands. They have also been praised by film directors Paolo Sorrentino, Tim Burton and David Lynch who have all used their music on their soundtracks. Finn now lives in New Zealand with his wife and daughter. ​

“Refreshingly passionate… Andrews rages with a Herculean intensity.” The Guardian

“Horse-whipped, lightning-crash clamor… magnetic.” Pitchfork

“One of the finest songwriters of his generation.” Drowned in Sound

This album contains no booklet.