(HUDSON, N.Y.) – New York City-based indie-rock group Spottiswoode & His Enemies, led by Englishman Jonathan Spottiswoode, will celebrate the release of its brand-new recording, English Dream, at Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, April 19, 2014, at 9pm. With his deep, gravelly voice, his quirky, acerbic songwriting, and his eclectic musical palette, Spottiswoode should appeal to fans of Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, the National, Ray Davies, Randy Newman and Nick Cave.
Referred to as a genius and a downtown ringleader by the New Yorker, Spottiswoode is the son of an American singer and an English clergyman. WNYC’s John Schaefer describes him as “one of New York’s more colorful band leaders for more than a decade.”
In 2012, Spottiswoode & His Enemies won two Independent Music Awards for their fifth record, Wild Goosechase Expedition, a critically hailed miracle about a rock band’s doomed tour. Awards included Best Adult Contemporary Song (for the piano ballad, “Chariot”) and the Vox Populi Award for Best Eclectic Album.
English Dream, their new album, is slated for release on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. It’s an English record, written and sung by an Englishman, but recorded in Brooklyn by a New York band. “Salvation, our fourth record, was Americana,” says Spottiswoode. “This time we’ve gone ‘Anglicana’ and made a pastoral collection of songs about nature, love, childhood and the other side of the pond. Sometimes it’s idyllic, and sometimes it’s a bit scary.”
With the Enemies, Spottiswoode has released five acclaimed CDs and toured worldwide from SXSW and Lille Europe to Lincoln Center. The band has been profiled on NPR’s Weekend Edition and has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio programs XM Loft, World Cafe and Soundcheck. Their gothic rock opera, Above Hell’s Kitchen, was presented to sold-out crowds at the prestigious New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2010.
Spottiswoode & His Enemies features John Young (bass), Tim Vaill (drums), Candace DeBartolo (saxophone), Kevin Cordt (trumpet), Riley McMahon (guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel), and Tony Lauria (piano, accordion, keyboards).
For reservations in The Restaurant or in the club call 518.828.4800.