Accidental Record’s newest signing, Hejira, recently released their new single ‘Litmus Test’. In support of the release, Accidental is delighted to share a new collaborative track ‘Floating Test’ by Hejira and Ninja Tune affiliate & Eglo Records Co-Founder Floating Points and announce details of a very special launch event for their forthcoming album ‘Prayer Before Birth’.

ALBUM LAUNCH - Thursday 31st of October at The Round Chapel (1d Glenarm Road, Clapton, London E5 0LY)

Hejira will be performing their debut album 'Prayer Before Birth' produced by Matthew Herbert in the beautiful setting of The Clapton Round Chapel in Hackney accompanied by an 18-piece ensemble including a choir and trombone section. The special concert will be the first time this piece of work will be performed in its entirety and will be filmed and recorded live.

Advance tickets: £10
Advance tickets including CD of the album 'Prayer Before Birth' : £15

Tickets and information available from www.traumpress.com and www.hejira.info

London four-piece, Hejira unveil details of their new album ‘Prayer Before Birth’ which will be proceeded by the 12-inch single ‘Litmus Test’.

Produced by electronic music pioneer and creative visionary, Matthew Herbert, the single will be released on his Accidental label on 16th September and will feature additional treatments by Seb Rochford featuring Jehst and Eglo Records/Ninja Tune rising star Floating Points.

‘Litmus Test’ is the second single to be taken from Hejira’s debut album ‘Prayer Before Birth’, which is set for release on October 21st via Accidental Records. Borne of many years of experience performing individually in a bewildering amount of styles with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Tom Jones, Nitin Sawhney, Eric Lau and Connan Mockasin, the band seek to build this musicianship into an uncompromisingly visceral, passionate yet tender sound.

Having already garnered attention from the likes The Guardian, NOWNESS, The Fly, FACT, ABEANO, The Quietus, Dummy and more, I hope you enjoy the fresh and soothing soulful sounds of Hejira’s new track.

Matthew Herbert: “I love this band. There’s a delicate orchestration to their playing and arrangements that has more in common with symphonic classical music than rock. Born of many years of experience performing individually in a bewildering amount of styles the band seeks to build this musicianship in to an uncompromisingly visceral, passionate yet tender sound. Full of gentle surprises, the whole project feels unhindered by compromise or a desire to please. As a consequence, it makes for a magnetic, engaging listen.”

blending organic percussion, lush orchestral textures and soothing vocal harmonies, forging a tenderly uplifting debut. The Quietus

...it sounds a lot like former Accidental label mates The Invisible, it also has elements of Massive Attack at their most mellow and Connan Mockasin's spindly, spooked guitars. The Guardian

A moody slow-burner, it crawls up from sparse, echo-haunted vocals to become a sprawling guitar breakdown full of unsettling distortion and slightly off-kilter percussion; one for brooding with headphones. Dummy

More info on Hejira below:

Formed in 2010, Hejira are Sam Beste, Rahel Debebe-Dessalegne, Alexis Nunez and Alex Reeve - a group of Londoners with a diverse collective heritage spanning the entire globe from Chile and Hungary through to Ethiopia and Germany. Borne of many years of experience performing individually in a bewildering amount of styles with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Tom Jones, Nitin Sawhney, Eric Lau and Connan Mockasin, the band seek to build this musicianship into an uncompromisingly visceral, passionate yet tender sound.

Litmus Test is taken from Hejira’s sublime debut album, Prayer Before Birth.

Litmus Test epitomizes the fundamental tenets of Hejira’s musical ideology – a questing sense of compositional experimentation, the power of a genuinely democratic creative process and the importance of melody. It lurches with beguiling, seemingly ominous intent, melodic elements conspiring to form a uniquely engaging whole. Resistance is futile.

Exemplifying the band’s belief in collaboration, Litmus Test is backed by two remixes. The legendary Seb Roachford twists the track to meet his own nefarious needs, all sinewy, cranium crunching flow and urban ennui, with additional vocal stylings by English rapper and YNR Productions co-founder Jehst. Floating Points offers something altogether quite different but no less awesome. He stretches Litmus Test out, teasing forth baroque drones and choral harmonies before exploding into Tortoise like realms of syncopated guitar lines and a relentless groove.

Accompanying Litmus Test single will be a live film of the track performed in The House of Dreams – Hejira’s studio sonic Shangri-La.

Artist Links

Website: http://www.hejira.info

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hejira_info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hejira.info/info