{"title":"Darling West","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"cosmos-8","title":"Cosmos","description":"\u003cp\u003eDarling West decamped for a tiny island on Norway's west coast to begin writing what was to become Cosmos, their fifth studio album. For the first time, the band's core - married couple Mari and Tor Egil Kreken - have included band members Thomas Gallatin and Christer Slaaen in the songwriting and production process. As a larger united, Darling West has really evolved. Cosmos is indeed the sound of expansion.  West coast, cosmic folk, americana... Call it what you will - there are even hints of afro blues on here - but where the band once fit firmly in the folk\/americana category, you might as well just call it pop these days.  Cosmos was recorded and produced in its entirety by Darling West. Vocal guests on the album include Matthew Logan Vasquez (Delta Spirit) and Jarle Bernhoft, while David Wallumr?d, Lars Horntveth and Torjus Vierli all excel on keys. Finally, the one and only Rob Moose (Paul Simon, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers) provides strings on \"Till Night Turns to Day\" and \"Old Man\".  The listener is also awarded plenty of what we've come to love from Darling West: Mari Kreken's gorgeous voice and Tor Egil Kreken's incredibly versatile playing (guitar, bass, banjo, etc.) playing. The sum of these parts makes up a magical record, with songs and melodies that will stay on your mind for the unforeseeable future.  While many struggled to keep their heads up during the pandemic, the band did their best to contribute positively, and came out on the other side with a growing, dedicated fanbase, due to their incredibly popular \"Family Sessions\" on Youtube. A recurring concept where they featured a host of friends and other artists, thus creating a community - or family - which is still going strong.   The music on Cosmos searches outward, while the lyrics look inward. The resulting record includes elements of pop, while it pushes the envelope for what Norwegian americana can sound like. Cosmos is also about loving yourself, and there are of course a handful of love songs about shaky relationships - as we've come to expect from Darling West.  The band continues to develop their unique musicianship and Cosmos is indeed another masterstroke from the band.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jansen","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50470275940683,"sku":"2019576","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50470275154251,"sku":"2009783","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_7cc61853_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727375215"},{"product_id":"live-2020","title":"Live 2020","description":"\u003cp\u003eA month before the pandemic hit Norway – and the rest of the world for that sake – Darling west released their fourth album, «We’ll Never Know Unless We Try». They managed to get through two or three shows before everything was canceled, and the country went into lockdown. It may sound a bit counter-intuitive to records a live album while in lockdown, but that is exactly what Darling West decided to do. When Norway partly opened during the fall of 2020, the band recorded their gigs at Parkteatret in Oslo and at Folken in Stavanger, and these recordings make out the songs on «Live 2020». Even though the gigs were played at venues with restricted capacity, it’s nice to see that they can reach bigger a bigger audience with this recording. «Live 2020» consists of songs from Darling West’s entire catalogue, and you can almost hear that they’ve been longing to play live on a stage. It had been six months since they’d been in front of an audience when these recordings were made, and the energy in the rooms were very special. This record is a document of this.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jansen","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50475349672267,"sku":"1134410","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/05088ecd-fd92-4dbd-a7f2-02b20b06e4e9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727446297"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/darling-west.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}