Songs of the Saxophones

“The most important factor when choosing bandmates is love,” says the Saxophones’ Alexi Erenkov. “Do you love the people you’re playing with? If so, everyone is going to be feeling relaxed and confident.” This approach is a useful one to have when your wife, Alison Alderdice, is in your band.

Following the success of two EPs (If You’re On The Water & Aloha) The Saxophones have announced that their debut full length is due for release on 1st June 2018.

Whilst the Saxophones began as the solo project of Erenkov - a project that was loosely started over a decade ago but gained full momentum and dedication in recent years - he wanted to bring in some primitive drum and percussion playing and couldn’t think of anyone more suited than his wife. “I wanted to share the band with her,” he says. “Plus, I would be devastated if I had to leave for weeks at a time to tour without her.”

The songs which make up the debut album were formed and written during a period in which the pair were living on a boat during a very wet winter in the San Francisco Bay Area. “Much of the music was written over rainy mornings on acoustic guitar inside the cabin of our boat and outside of the city in a little guesthouse in Pt. Reyes,” he reflects. It was then recorded in Portland over 10 days, the recording was an intense and occasionally tense process.

Taking inspiration from 1950s exotica and Hawaiian albums (Edhen Abhez, Buddy Fo, and Martin Denny), 1970s outsider Italian songwriter Vittorio Impiglia, and a host of third-stream and West coast jazz records, the result is a unique offering.

“I wrote it a few weeks after Chuck Berry died” Alexi says of lead single ‘Picture’ “To my ears, and I suspect mine alone, the opening verse sounds like a post-modern “Riding Around in My Automobile.” At times, I’m singing it from the perspective of a young, entitled California surfer who is on the verge of questioning his taken-for-granted beliefs. At other moments, I’m reflecting on the way my search for meaning manifests in urges to consume and create.”

 The album will be available on limited edition white vinyl, as well as CD & digital download from June 1st. The band has also produced a very limited number of books containing the sheet music to the entire album so that you can play along at home on your guitar!

All versions are available to pre-order HERE