Album Stream: Ravenna Woods, Disappearing Someone

Disappearing Someone is the culmination of almost a decade’s worth of songwriting efforts by Seattle’s Ravenna Woods, which includes members Chris Cunningham, Brantley Duke and Matt Badger. They appeared on the Seattle scene in early 2010 with their stripped down, acoustic punk/math record Demons and Lakes, earning them national accolades and consistent airplay on widely influential indie rock stations. The band enjoyed a whirlwind of weird attention in the early years, ranging from being hired by a TV network to write original songs, to opening up for John Fogerty in front of 3,000 slightly confused concert goers.

Since then, they’ve continued to grow and experiment, adding new members and instrumentation, leading up to their current and most fully realized incarnation with multi-instrumentalists Nic Danielson and Reed LV. After becoming a quintet in late 2015, Ravenna began writing and recording in an effort to best represent where they started and where they’ve ended up on their musical odyssey. Producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Botch, Blood Brothers, Minus the Bear, Foxing) did just that, working with the band over a two year period to create their newest LP – Disappearing Someone. The result swells with dynamic intensity, ranging from songs that dip back into their frantic finger picky roots, to massive walls of synth and NIN-like distortion (sometimes all in the same composition).

The album’s subject matter is characterized by a dichotomy of political and personal, with the term “Disappearing Someone” being used to both describe losing someone you love, and the violent act of a cartel killing someone and disposing of their body in such a way that they are never discovered.

Not exactly light and airy, but Ravenna Woods isn’t exactly a light and airy band.

Disappearing Someone will be released digitally as well as on vinyl through Rocket Heart Records on May 3. Enjoy the stream of it now below: