Pre-order : Alek Barkats - Here we are in the garden 21 Jun 2024

Thrilled to have Alek Barkats debut album as our July release!

Alek Barkats is songwriter and multi-instrumentalist living in Philadelphia. He established himself in the Bay Area music scene, both recording and touring his own music, and as a pianist in several projects- including singer-songwriter Lizzy Dutton’s live band, and the instrumental, jazz-rock ensemble, Cheap Charms.

Barkats’ upcoming sophomore album is the warm and thoughtful Here we are in the garden. The album’s 10 deeply personal songs range from sunny acoustic strummers to piano-led ballads, characterized by Barkats’ calm and poetic delivery. Echoing the breezy melodies of Belle & Sebastian and the theatrics of Randy Newman, Barkats paints a world with daydreaming dogs and romantic descriptions of television, where each song feels like an ode to the little lives we cultivate.

Most of HWAITG was recorded at Oakland’s Itinerant Home by Geoff Saba, who also plays on the album. The remainder was recorded in Philadelphia where Alek Barkats relocated, serendipitously moving into the apartment below audio engineer and musician Heather Jones. Jones and Barkats added hammond organ at Philly’s legendary Headroom Studios, and wrapped up vocals at Jones’ own studio, So Big Auditory.

Featuring a cast of Bay Area musicians including Emmett Moskowitz (Magic Fig, Froogies Groovies), David Mandle (Moral High Horses), Ben Hartman (Old Time Relijun), Travis Snyder (Catch Prichard, The Sunshine Bores), Lizzy Dutton, Artur Friedhoff (Cheap Charms), Abe Finkelstein (The Forgetmenauts), Nansamba Ssensalo (California Honeydrops), Geoff Saba (Forest Floor), and Tacie Moskowitz.

Tapes are up for pre-order now. The limited cassette run (/50) comes on normal bias marble blue tape, hand duplicated in real time at Ghost Mountain Records in Seattle, WA. Included is a digital download code, which for US and Canada based shipping, is on wildflower seed paper by Botanical Paperworks.

Album shipping and releasing July 19th. You can grab your copy here, or save on shipping and pick one up at the album release show.

Or during Alek's upcoming east coast summer tour:

If you missed it, check out the write up about the first single, "Jewels" on Various Small Flames and listen here.