Hopewell will release their expansive new album Beautiful Targets on Tee Pee Records (BJM, Warlocks, Entrance). They are also due to land in England for the first time since 2001. Catch them at some Truck Festival warm up shows in London & South Hampton. Since the release of their critically acclaimed album Hopewell & The Birds of Appetite (produced by Dave Fridmann), they have logged over 200 shows, crisscrossed the US, and received rave reviews from the most stoic of journalists. Notable appearances include SXSW, CMJ, Noise Pop Festival and tours with the Black Angels, Mark Gardner & Goldrush, Black Moth Super Rainbow, the Posies, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

At age 19, Hopewell’s founder/lead singer, Jason Russo found himself traversing the world with the now legendary Mercury Rev. Following Revs breakthrough record Deserter’s Songs, Russo struck out on his own to focus on Hopewell, described by NME as: “Breathtaking, bombastic psychedelic rock with a dark turbulence at it's heart; the two elements tugging at each other until a music that is both disquietingly beautiful and emotionally powerful is all that remains." The band toured extensively in the UK, Europe, and the US and recorded a Peel session before returning to their beloved upstate wilderness to delve back into the studio.

The result is Beautiful Targets. Produced by Bill Racine (Mates Of State, Rogue Wave), the collection of loosely related narratives showcases a band at the height of it’s powers. Somewhere in the anthemic soaring strings of Tree, the pop prowess of Bethlehem, and the shrieking maelstrom of Windy Day, the band makes it clear that they are dead serious. Serious about outdoing themselves, seriously determined to make lasting, genre-defying music, and seriously out to break the listener's heart. Their fourth full-length album finds Hopewell perfecting their inherent gift for drama. Where their previous efforts honored turmoil and chaos, this is the sound of a band who has survived and managed to make something beautiful out of their struggle.

Tour Dates:

Tue, Jul 17th: The Social - Westminster, London (w/ The Silent League)
Wed, Jul 18th: The Windmill - Brixton, Brixton (w/ The Lea Shores)
Thu, Jul 19th: The Borderline - Soho, London (w/ Imperial Leisure)
Fri, Jul 20th: The Joiners - Southampton, Hampshire (w/ Owen Tromans)
Sun, Jul 22nd: Truck Festival - Steventon, Oxfordshire (w/ Idlewild, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Garth Hudson, Goldrush, The Silent League and many many more...)

Visit the rock3 psychedelic thread for more about Hopewell and Others

HOPEWELL BIO:

A brief scan of heraldic press clippings from CMJ, the Village Voice, NME, Time Out, Wire and Magnet divulges a clear journalistic pattern of describing Hopewell in terms of opposition: delicate & visceral, sublime & stabbing, crushing & romantic, immense & fragile. Those who follow the group recognize volatility as an immediate and clear touchstone of both its music and history. With their new album Beautiful Targets being released July 2007 on Tee Pee Records, Hopewell have come full circle; not only recognizing, but exploring and ultimately embracing this tension to mature and stunning conclusions.

Their latest offering, produced by Bill Racine (Rogue Wave, Mates Of State) and Max Avery Lichtenstein (Camphor, Mercury Rev) and recorded in the band's beloved upstate New York wilderness in 2006, showcases a band at the height of their creativity. Somewhere within the anthemic, soaring strings of Tree, the pop prowess of Bethlehem, and the whirling maelstrom of Windy Day, the band makes it clear that they are serious about outdoing themselves, genuinely determined to make lasting, genre-defying music, and, in the end, positively out to break the listener's heart. Accordingly, Beautiful Targets finds Hopewell perfecting their inherent and recurrent gift for drama. Characters in the album’s loosely connected narrative are often human to a fault, both clashing and rejoicing as the music threatens to overwhelm them, then veering off into unexpected tenderness at the last minute. Where their previous efforts honored turmoil and chaos, this is the sound of a band who has survived and managed to make something beautiful out of their struggle.




Lyndon Roeller, Rich Meyer, Jason Russo, Tyson Lewis, Jay Green

When founder Jason Russo was 19 years old he was plucked out of the small town of Hopewell Jct, NY to traverse the world with the now legendary Mercury Rev. Following Rev’s breakthrough record Deserters Songs, he struck out on his own to promote Hopewell’s critically acclaimed The Curved Glass, meeting with equal measures of success and tragicomedy. The band played the Reading/Leeds festival in the UK, recorded a Peel Session, and traveled extensive through Europe and the UK. This notoriety led to the opportunity to work with uber-producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips) on what became 2005's space rock opera Hopewell & The Birds Of Appetite. Named "Best Album of 2005" by legendary Seattle radio station KEXP the record is, in truth, a document of the band’s near destruction. In-fighting, lineup changes, hospitalizations & rehab stints fueled Birds’ dramatic and cathartic anthems. Incidents like drummer Jay Green’s tumble down a flight of stairs in an accident that resulted in partial amnesia and the loss of taste and smell just weeks before a sold out Bowery Ballroom show in NYC, for example, might have caused a lesser band to fold. But a curious thing happened; Hopewell found that hardships such as these at home, coupled with a grueling tour schedule actually galvanized them. A newfound sense of camaraderie, enthusiastic receptions from live audiences and peers, and increasingly positive album reviews inspired them to persevere, scrambling off headstrong into the studio during breaks from their near-constant cross-country sprees. The result is the joyful noise of Beautiful Targets.

Hopewell's devastating live shows - performances that are gathering notoriety for the band’s penchant for complementing their sound with additional percussion, orchestral arrangements and bellowing horns - have left packed houses clamoring for more and drawn drop-jawed reviews from even the most stoic of journalists. They have performed domestically and internationally with such renowned acts as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels, The Posies, Mike Watt, The Comas, Goldrush, Elefant and The Sleepy Jackson.