If you were ever a fan of Thievery Corporation, Solar Fields, Groove Armada, Cinematic Orchestra, or even the 4AD iconic collective This Mortal Coil, there is one band you should know about at this point in time. Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina (but apparently with a few members located elsewhere in the country) is Jason Herring & The Mystery Plan. Having just wrapped up a performance at Snug Harbor with American shoegaze pioneers The Veldt, they are now on the verge of releasing their new album Queensland Ballroom.

With props from Ten Millimeter Omega Recordings, this album presents a delicious smorgasbord for varied tastes – from chill out to dark dreamery and even massively beautiful modern classical music with a near-mystifying delivery. The stuff that brilliant soundtracks are made of.

Today The Big Takeover brings you the premiere of “Electric Love”, the first single with highly dreamy female vocals. The accompanying video was directed by Jon Ecklund and Fiona Jones and produced by Dream Out Loud Media.

The band is comprised of Jason Herring, Otis Hughes, Jeff Chester, Amy Herring, Paul Jensen, and Patty McLaughlin. This 11-track offering follows the band’s Electric Love EP, released in June of this year.

Both of these releases involved production by legendary producer John Fryer, one of the most innovative sonic architects of our age. “John Fryer has practically soundtracked your entire life,” says Impose Magazine, with a musical imprint that is massive, having shaped the sound of nearly all early 4AD Records’ releases (Cocteau Twins, Lush, Kristin Hersh, Dead Can Dance), as well as bands from Nine Inch Nails and Love and Rockets to HIM and Depeche Mode. He is also one of just two artists behind This Mortal Coil, along with Ivo Watts-Russell, and the mastermind behind his latest project Black Needle Noise.

Jason Herring met Fryer while visiting Los Angeles, where his studio is currently based. After collaborating on the Electric Love EP, they launched into the new Queensland Ballroom LP, which sees the band take a turn from their trademark psychedelic folk sound to a more electronic downtempo groove.

After a hiatus of several years, bandmates Jason Herring (The Interstellars, Muchacho, Farfalla) and Paul Jensen (Fetchin’ Bones, the Interstellars) began writing songs again. Soon thereafter, the first album The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be was released in 2010, followed by Chateau Beaumont in 2012 and Long Shadows in 2014.

“Our previous releases are a little melancholy, so Amy and I decided we should make this record a little more fun. A record outside of our norm,” says Jason Herring. “Electric Love was inspired by Amy and I feeling a bit randy in the studio – that’s fun, yeah?”

This whole experience ultimately led Jason Herring to collaborate further with John Fryer on music for a feature film and an HBO documentary. Fryer also appears briefly in the new video for “Electric Love”.

Queensland Ballroom releases tomorrow (September 8) on all the regular sales and streaming platforms. Their album release event happens on Saturday, September 9 in Ashville, North Carolina (The Odditorium, 1045 Haywood Road) at 9pm.

TRACK LIST
1 Electric Love
2 Vampires Are Lucky
3 Oola Heatray
4 The Golden Moon and Silvery Sea
5 Chocolate Milky
6 Electric Love (Paul Jensen Mix)
7 Vampires are lucky (That Guy Smitty Mix)
8 Night Time Butterflies
9 Vampires Are Lucky (Paul Jensen Mix)
10 Where Did You Go
11 Early Morning Hours

LIVE SHOWS
Sept 9 Asheville, NC – The Odditorium (8pm)
Sept 23 Charlotte, NC – Rhino Market & Deli (8pm)
Oct 14 Charlotte, NC – Petra’s (8pm)

JASON HERRING & THE MYSTERY PLAN
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