Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek has scaled back his musical operations considerably over the last decade or so. He’s built one of modern music’s richest catalogs dating back to 1992 — when his first album with Red House Painters was released — but since starting Sun Kil Moon in 2002, his live performances have been almost exclusively solo affairs (not counting his wonderful performance on Fallon with the Roots), and recently, even his recorded work has grown sparer (not counting his terrific collaboration with Desertshore), to the extent that his recent LPs rarely feature anything more than his voice and acoustic guitar. As I noted in our “Counting Down: Mark Kozelek” feature, it appeared as though he was unlikely to expand operations anytime soon, if ever. But appearances can be deceiving: According to a news post on Sun Kil Moon’s site, Kozelek has teamed with the Album Leaf’s Jimmy LaValle for a 2013 release called Perils From The Sea; the new album will be credited to Sun Kil Moon & The Album Leaf, and will be released on Kozelek’s Caldo Verde label next May. Kozelek has been playing a handful of the album’s tracks (“You Missed My Heart,” “Ceiling Gazing,” “Caroline,” and “Baby In Death Can I Rest Next To Your Grave”) at recent live shows, sans accompaniment. However, the new band have lined up two 2013 dates in advance of the album’s release — at UE Festival in Holland on May 11, and at Shepard’s Bush Empire in London, May 13. (Followed by a US tour perhaps? Please?) Here’s the release in full:
