Pillars and Tongues

Since 2007, Pillars and Tongues sifted through cinematic art-pop, acoustic doom, and long-form ambient improvisation, keeping the human voice always at the center. They have toured with Angel Olsen, Dark Dark Dark, Joan Of Arc, A Hawk And A Hacksaw, Bonnie Prince Billy, and others, crisscrossing the U.S. and Europe many times. In recent years, Ben Babbitt has garnered acclaim for his work scoring the much lauded indie video game, Kentucky Route Zero. Mark Trecka has recorded and released several solo works as well as collaborations with Susan Alcorn, and others.

Pillars and Tongues' latest release, "'Great / Most Secret' and 'The Miracle'" was recorded in 2009 after the group returned home from a tour throughout Canada and the American West with Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

They now have no certain memory of how these songs came together. They just played and played until they came, singing and playing together many hours a week in living rooms in New Mexico and in the old wire factory in Chicago and art galleries and coffee shops and bars in the plains and along both coasts. They played them in French theaters and in Spanish bars. And then they played them in a big room with big windows in Chicago, during a thunderstorm, and producer Mike Usrey captured it.

These two songs drove for a long time. Then they laid low for a long while. And now they are here. Why now? This coincides with nothing in particular, proceeds from nothing in particular. It is just time.