Over the years, Faith No More/Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton has made a lot of interesting music with a lot of unlikely collaborators. Most of those collaborators have been experimental extremists in one way or another. But now, Patton has gotten together with some people known for making soothing, traditional music: Scott and Seth Avett from the Avett Brothers, the long-running folk/bluegrass group.
Mike Patton and the Avett Brothers have evidently been mutual fans for some time, and now they've joined forces to make AVTT/PTTN, a new album of originals. The LP came into being after Patton and the Avetts started sending each other song ideas. Patton and the Avetts wrote all the songs together, and Patton and Scott Avett co-produced it with engineer Dana Nielsen. It sure seems like this record will be a stark contrast from Patton's intense recent work with bands like Mr. Bungle and Dead Cross. Meanwhile, the Avett Brothers' Broadway musical Swept Away opened and closed last year.
In a press release, Scott Avett says, "Mike’s part of our DNA, like the fabric of our youth. Literally, we studied him. He’s a dear friend now, but when we were younger, I was imitating him... This is what art is. This is what making is supposed to be: in secret and with no ambition."
Patton says, "My peculiar challenge in this was to become a long distant cousin. A brother that was orphaned. Maybe they kept him in the chicken coop or some shit. They brought him out years and years later." Lead single "Eternal Love" sounds more like the Avett Brothers than like any Mike Patton project that I can remember, but Patton's voice definitely changes the feeling. Below, check out that song and the AVTT/PTTN tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Dark Night Of My Soul"
02 "To Be Known"
03 "Heaven’s Breath"
04 "Too Awesome"
05 "Disappearing"
06 "Eternal Love"
07 "The Ox Driver's Song"
08 "The Things I Do"
09 "Received"
AVTT/PTTN is out 11/14 on Thirty Tigers/Ramseur Records/Ipecac Recordings.
