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Sep 22, 2021 By Joey Arnone Photography by Evan Tetreault

Beach Fossils have announced a new album consisting entirely of jazz reimaginings of songs from across their catalogue. The album, titled The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, will be out on November 19 via Bayonet. They have shared a video for a piano version of “This Year,” taken from their 2017 album Somersault. Check it out below, along with the album’s tracklist and cover art.

The new album features instrumentation from former band member Tommy Gardner, whom frontman Dustin Payseur initially met in 2008 when Gardner was a recent Juilliard graduate. “I was astounded by the amount of musical talent that he possessed,” states Payseur in a press release. “On tour, whenever we were in a green room with a piano, Gardner would sit down and start improvising Beach Fossils songs in a jazzy style. He would be playing the melodies for the guitars, bass and vocals all together. It’s not like he rehearsed it, it would be the first time he’d ever attempted to play these songs, and it was always beautiful. For years I had the idea of turning these piano versions of Beach Fossils songs into an album, and in 2020 when touring came to a sudden halt due to Covid, I reached out to Gardner and asked if he wanted to finally make this album.”

Payseur adds: “As for my vocals, I’m not a jazz singer and I had no intention of altering my style for this record. The idea was for my vocals to be the common thread between the original versions and these new versions. A song by itself is naked, there are endless possibilities for how to dress a song and every choice creates a radically different outcome. Making this album let me step back and see these songs from a new perspective. I hope you’ll enjoy what we’ve done with them.”

The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads also features drums from Henry Kwapis. Last year, the band reissued their 2010 self-titled debut to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Read our 2017 interview with Beach Fossils about Somersault.

The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads Tracklist:

1. This Year (Piano)
2. May 1st (Piano)
3. Sleep Apnea (Piano)
4. What a Pleasure (Piano)
5. Adversity (Piano)
6. Down the Line (Piano)
7. Youth (Piano)
8. That’s All For Now (Piano)

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