Chicago native, Leeds based multi-instrumentalist Juffage will release his debut album Semicircle on 6th June through Function Records, also home to Sheild Your Eyes and These Monsters.
A recording enthusiast at heart, he has spent time in some of Chicago’s finest studios including Engine Studios (w/ Brian Deck), and Electrical Audio (w/ Steve Albini). Live shows see him coming up with inventive new ways of bringing his multi-layered recordings to the stage, utilising live looping and multitasking of drums, vocals, basses, guitars, keys, omnichord, clarinet, melodica, and manipulated cassettes. Juffage performances have been compared to a synthesis of Lightning Bolt’s rhythmic ferocity, Radiohead’s lush pop sensibility, King Tubby’s manipulative production, and Andrew Bird’s ability to make a good loop. The result has been described as a “hyperactive and technically accomplished display”, “magical”, and “wildly exuberant yet deceptively delicate”.
His new album, ‘Semicircle’, takes his distinctive larger-than-life performance style to an even grander scale, adding even more instruments to the mix. But there’s careful orchestration at work under the surface: couched in a patchwork of sounds and cut-up samples is a plethora of pop sensibilities.
‘Small Fires’ casts layers of whirring keys and erratic, densely-packed drums as the oddball trappings that conceal Juffage’s earworm hooks, and ‘My Weakness’ layers, fuzzes, and distorts its way out of being a straight-forward pop song. ‘Semicircle’ and ‘HHV’ combine fragments of layered vocal harmoies, analog synthesizers, and thick slabs of slow-moving melody.
This debut is a perfect distillation of what Juffage is about – both defiantly experimental and unashamedly pop-oriented, with neither feature seeming out of place or at war with the other. Recorded over a six year period in 22 different locations around the U.S.A. and U.K., ‘Semicircle’ is an ambitious record and a bold statement of the Juffage story so far.
Juffage will tour the UK this Summer, playing the following dates:
03 MAY: Sheffield – the Harley (w/ Damo Suzuki & the Horn the Hunt)
06 MAY: Bradford – Zuu Bar
07 MAY: Leeds – Jumblyfest @ Headingley Methodist (w/ Cissy, Pifco, Circuit Ben, & Accordianna)
07 MAY: Bolton – the Dog & Partridge (w/ Munroe Effect & Kiss Off)
08 MAY: Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s (w/ PS I love You & People Places Maps)
09 MAY: Inverness – Market Bar
10 MAY: Aberdeen – Café Drummond (w/ Spokes & Esperi)
11 MAY: Glasgow – the Bloc
12 MAY: Manchester – Night and Day (w/ EAR PWR)
13 MAY: Lancaster – Yorkshire House (w/ From the Kites of San Quentin & Crane)
14 MAY: Liverpool – Zanzibar Club
15 MAY: Newcastle – Tyne Bar
17 MAY: London – Buffalo Bar (Tim Ten Yen & Jim II’s Brain)
18 MAY: Norwich – Olives
19 MAY: Nottingham – the Golden Fleece
20 MAY: Leamington Spa – Robbin’s Well
21 MAY: Manchester – Carefully Planned All-Dayer @ the Castle Hotel
23 MAY: York – the Basement (w/ Neuschlaufen) [8PM]
26 MAY: Preston – the Mad Ferret (w/ Three Trapped Tigers & Tall Ships)
27 MAY: Doncaster – Vintage Rockbar
28 MAY: Sowerby Bridge – Puzzle Hall
29 MAY: Bletchy – Metro’s Restaurant
30 MAY: Brighton – Nice Weather for Airstrikes Festival @ the Druids Arms
31 MAY: Cardiff – Ten Feet Tall
01 JUNE: Bristol – Mother’s Ruin
02 JUNE: Southampton – Hampton’s Bar
03 JUNE: Derby – Ryan’s Bar (w/ Hold Your Horse Is)
04 JUNE: Halifax – Crow Versus Crow @ Bar Up (w/ Silent Front)
05 JUNE: Leeds – Brudenell Social Club (w/ Trapdoor Minotaur, Invisible Cities, Bearfoot Beware)
