Released: 21/08/26
Lambchop’s seventeenth album, Punching the Clown, finds Kurt Wagner returning to the roots of songwriting, inspired by the centuries-old Scots-Appalachian tradition of “lined out singing.” After years of studying great songwriters and refining his craft, Wagner whittled dozens of songs down to twelve.
Recorded over just three days at April Base in Wisconsin, the album features guitarist Andrew Broder, Justin Vernon on banjo and a six-part vocal ensemble, with additional choir recordings in London and Minneapolis. Produced by Ryan Olson, Punching the Clown is graceful, wry and quietly devastating, shaped by the raw intimacy of communal voices.