Phil Elverum’s estimable Mount Eerie project will return in 2013 with Pre-Human Ideas, a collection of songs that — somewhat shockingly — makes strong use of Auto-Tune. But this 12-track set will be no T-Pain tribute. Instead, it will exclusively collect reworked highlights from last year’s two-album suite, Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, abstracting those fog-shrouded folk pieces into dubby drone-scapes guided by an electric coo.
At least, that’s the impression we’re left with after hearing “Lone Bell,” streaming below. As Pitchfork notes, the album announcement says that although the source material is familiar, there will be “newly written lyrics, almost like new songs layered over the old ones, expanding and clarifying the ideas.” Pre-Human Ideas is out November 12 on P.W. Elverum & Sun, the Anacortes, Washington auteur’s own label. Track list after the tunes.
For comparison, the original Clear Moon version of “Lone Bell”:
Mount Eerie, Pre-Human Ideas track list:
1. “Organs” (from “Pale Lights”)
2. “No Inside, No Out”
3. “I Say ‘No'”
4. “The Hidden Stone”
5. “The Place Lives”
6. “The Place I Live”
7. “Lone Bell”
8. “House Shape”
9. “Clear Moon”
10. “Yawning Sky”
11. “Ocean Roar”
12. “Organs” (from “The Place Lives”)
