Becca Stevens To Release Perfect Animal

Becca Stevens Band Album Perfect Animal Coming April 7 On Universal Music Classics

“At Times Resembling A More Folk-Tinged St. Vincent, Stevens Offers Richly Twisted Originals Alongside Covers Of Frank Ocean, Usher and Steve Winwood.”   – L.A. Times

“Could She Be The New Joni? That’s The Well From Which She Springs.”  – San Jose Mercury News

The New York Times says she is “a vocalist and guitarist who balances deep melody against lyrical caprice.” With the new Becca Stevens Band album Perfect Animal, coming April 7^th on Universal Music Classics, she has sharpened her voice as a songwriter and bandleader. Stevens filters her myriad influences (indie rock, R&B, jazz, West African music, folk) into a singular, electrifying sound on Perfect Animal. The album is produced by “recordist” Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Mountain Goats, Spoon) and mixed by Matt Pence (Midlake, Yuck, Here We Go Magic). Solter helped the band capture the energy they bring to live shows as well as a musical weight and intensity that had always bubbled under the surface.

2014 was a banner year for Stevens. She collaborated and appeared on albums from José James, Ambrose Akinmusire and Billy Childs’ GRAMMY-nominated all-star Laura Nyro tribute Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, produced by Larry Klein. The track that Stevens wrote for Akinmusire’s album, “Our Basement (Ed),” was championed on NPR Music’s top 100 songs of 2014, the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll and PopMatters “Best Songs of 2014.” With the release of Perfect Animal and an ever-growing number of tour dates, including a March co-headlining tour with Ben Sollee, 2015 should prove to be Stevens’ most impressive year yet.

Watch an EPK on the making of Perfect Animal here: http://bit.ly/1n4BZB2

Perfect Animal has already received early critical kudos, and Stevens has a wealth of prominent musical peers who sing her praises. Here’s what we’ve been hearing:

“Becca is one of the best musicians I know. She’s a great songwriter…it’s like listening to Stereolab. The vocals are straight and clean yet also have a modern vibe. I think Becca is destined for greatness.”  – José James

“[‘Imperfect Animals’ is] an intimate rumination on our inability to be everything to everyone, all the time…the song’s jagged edges — low, scratchy guitars, jerky time signatures — complement the complicated ideals and realities she’s grappling with.”  – Wondering Sound

“Brilliant, catchy originals.”  – Downbeat

“Her songwriting, voice, and lyrics are like a cool bubbling brook freshening the brine of all the music you’ve ever heard.”  – Esperanza Spalding

“She’s someone who everybody, in my generation at least, looks up to. She’s really a genius — I don’t like using that word too much, she really has tapped into something in a deep way.”  – Ambrose Akinmusire

After three weeks of initial sessions with the full band in North Carolina and NYC, Stevens and Solter dove into marathon week long stretches of 10-12 hour sessions to record Stevens’ guitar and vocal parts for the album. The intense sessions left Stevens’ vocal cords exhausted, but the resulting dynamic intensity can be heard throughout Perfect Animal, and the album is better for it. The current Becca Stevens Band line-up has been performing together for seven years, and the resulting instinctive, organic rapport shines through on Perfect Animal. The album also benefits from a more powerful, expanded sound thanks to the use of electric guitar and bass, keyboards, synths and drummer Jordan Perlson mostly playing a full drum kit mixed with layers of various types of percussion throughout the album.

The Becca Stevens Band is Becca Stevens (vocals, guitars, ukulele, charango), Liam Robinson (keyboards, accordion, vocals), Chris Tordini (upright and electric bass, vocals) and Jordan Perlson (drums and percussion).

Becca Stevens Winter 2015 Tour Dates

Feb. 19 – Portland, OR – Portland Jazz Festival @ First Congregational Church (w/ Taylor Eigsti)

Feb. 22 – Portland, OR – Portland Jazz Festival @ Classic Pianos (solo)

Feb. 22 – Portland, OR – Portland Jazz Festival @ Newmark Theatre (w/ Billy Childs/Laura Nyro Tribute)

Feb 23 – Phoenix, AZ – MIM (w/ Billy Childs/Laura Nyro Tribute)

Mar 14 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 15 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 16 – Richmond, VA – Tin Pan (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 17 – Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 18 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 19 – Boston, MA – 160 Mass Ave at Berklee College of Music (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 20 – Wilmington, DE – World Café Live (Becca Stevens Band tour w/ Ben Sollee)

Mar 29 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Center for the Arts (Becca Stevens Band)