Coyote is the fourth studio album by Kayo Dot, released April 20, 2010 on Hydra Head Records. The album was written, according to frontman Toby Driver, as a single, narrative-driven, long-form composition written with story and text provided by a close, terminally-ill friend of the band, Yuko Sueta, in the final stage of her life. Coyote was once again engineered by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth, Six Organs of Admittance, Wolves in the Throne Room) in Seattle, Washington, forging a new genre of "goth fusion" which combines elements of early Cure, Faith and the Muse, and Bauhaus with Herbie Hancock's psychedelic album, Sextant, and Scott Walker's recent album, The Drift. The lyrics and story were constructed with deliberate melodrama to pay homage as well to the intended gothic vibe, expressing the protagonist's loneliness and longing to be in a better place, and her journey through her own personal looking-glass through a hallucinatory world of fear and wonder. The album received mixed reviews and would be the band's final release on Hydra Head. The album is much gloomier and electronic, paying homage to gothic post-punk and gothic rock bands with influences of chamber music as well.
Story
In April 2008, Toby Driver began working on a new long-form composition with Yuko Sueta, a NYC-based writer, filmmaker, and video artist. A first draft of this piece was premiered at The Stone in September 2008 by "The Kayo Dot Auxiliary Unit" (David Bodie and Daniel Means of Kayo Dot, Yuko Sueta, and Tim Byrnes on trumpet.) Shortly thereafter the performance, Sueta, who had been fighting breast cancer, became incapacitated by the disease.[4] Driver then re-drafted and adapted the piece for Kayo Dot toured it in May 2009 on the road with Secret Chiefs 3, and recorded it with Randall Dunn in Seattle during June–July 2009, releasing it later as 2010's Coyote. Sueta died while the record was in post-production, and the band has dedicated it to her.[5] After the positive reaction to the content performed on tour, Driver released Coyote in April 2010 on Hydra Head. On the album, the rotating lineup was made up of Driver on bass and vocals, Terran Olson on keyboards, David Bodie on drums, Mia Matsumiva on violin, Tim Byrnes on trumpet and Daniel Means on woodwinds. "Coyote" was released to mixed reviews on the sound, but positive reception on the concept of the album, such as PopMatters, who called it "stark and inaccessible."[6]
Track listing
All songs written by Toby Driver and Kayo Dot. All lyrics written by Yuko Sueta.
- "Calonyction Girl" – 7:59
- "Whisper Ineffable" – 11:13
- "Abyss Hinge 1: Sleeping Birds Sighing in Roscolux" – 3:45
- "Abyss Hinge 2: The Shrinking Armature" – 13:40
- "Cartogram Out of Phase" – 3:11
Credits
- Toby Driver - bass and vocals
- Mia Matsumiya - violin and guitar
- David Bodie - drums and percussion
- Daniel Means - alto sax
- Terran Olson - tenor sax and keyboards
- Tim Byrnes - trumpet and french horn [7]
References
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- Jason Byron
- Greg Massi
- Sam Gutterman
- Nicholas Kyte
- Ryan McGuire
- Forbes Graham
- John Carchia
- D.J. Murray
- Tom Malone
- Patrick Wolff
- David Bodie
- Mia Matsumiya
- Terran Olson
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