News Archive
01-09-2001
VAN DYKE PARKS TO WORK WITH SILVERCHAIR
Renowned Californian musical force Van Dyke Parks will travel to Australia this week to work with silverchair on their new album. He is expected to collaborate on string and brass arrangements for three new songs.
silverchair started recording their as yet untitled fourth album in Sydney two weeks ago with producer David Bottrill (Tool, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson). The disc is expected to be released early next year. Fans of the band can follow their recording progress via the group's website (www.chairpage.com) which contains daily updates on the sessions.
Over his career Van Dyke Parks has worked with a `who's who' of the world's musical talent. He collaborated with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on the legendary "Smile" sessions before going on to collaborate with many other important West Coast artists including Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Ry Cooder and Little Feat. In more recent years Van Dyke has lent a hand with string arrangements on U2's "Rattle & Hum" as well as scoring numerous feature films and reuniting with Brian Wilson for their widely acclaimed album "Orange Crate Art".
"We're excited about having Van Dyke be part of these songs", said silverchair's songwriter, Daniel Johns. "Like lots of people I'm a big fan of his distinctive approach to orchestrations and I'm really looking forward to working with him on these tracks."
Van Dyke Parks said "I'm honored to be a part of this group's new project. It is a milestone from their first CD (that throbbed through our home when my son and daughter first fell in love with them). When I got the new material, I was astounded by the musicality, the lyrics, brimming with enthusiasm and a life force that guarantees this group as a continuing major force in music."
"Daniel Johns and David Bottrill have put much trust in me. We'll be using a large string compliment with blown instruments and percussion, bringing this group into a tradition continuing from the lettuce days of pop music when analogue orchestration added new dimension to the works of Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, and the Beatles."
silverchair plan to complete recording in Australia in October and then plan to venture to the U.S. for mixing. The album is expected to hit the shelves early next year and the group will tour around the release.