SEA WOLF RELEASES THROUGH A DARK WOOD (DELUXE) Nov 19, 2021

Today, Sea Wolf has released Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe), an expanded digital edition of acclaimed songwriter Alex Brown Church’s latest album, released at the dawn of the pandemic in March of 2020. The new set adds 5 previously-unreleased songs to the tracklist which come from the original sessions where Church, emerging from a bruising divorce, wrote, recorded and scrapped a full album’s worth of material before starting anew. 

“Having the deluxe album come out now feels about right,” Church remarked. “We’re still in the pandemic, but we’ve gained some perspective, changed some priorities, and many of us are working to change our stories. The addition of these songs serves as a redux of the album, and offers it up to be considered again in light of all that’s happened. With me personally, and with everyone else, ”

Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe) features the new singles “Witchknife” and “Reflections On A Grey Dawn” featuring Dustin O’Halloran, the acclaimed composer and pianist. The album also includes contributions by longtime Sea Wolf collaborators Lisa Fendelander (keyboards), Scott Leahy (guitar) and Joey Ficken (drums), as well as Zac Rae (keyboards) and Francesco Le Metre (orchestrator).

When Church recorded the initial version of what would later become Through A Dark Wood, he wasn’t satisfied with the songs as a group. “The album came about during a kind of ‘dark wood’ period of my life,” Church said, “and it wasn’t until the end of that period that I gained some kind of clarity and realized what I wanted to say. I always had the notion that I would return to these songs one day, and with a bit of time having passed, and some gained perspective, I realized they were part of the ‘dark wood’ story all along.“

Through A Dark Wood is a raw, contemplative album that explores the complex feelings surrounding relationships, loss, the magnitude of current events, and ultimately the process of finding hope through it all. Church’s carefully crafted lyrics are wrapped around expansive melodies, lush rhythms and a stunning string quartet, maintaining a sense of musical familiarity while still pushing his sound forward. From the resilient, evocative anthems “Blood Pact” and “Two of Us” to the sweeping arrangements and poetic imagery in “Frank O’Hara” and “Back to the Wind”, his ability to gracefully illustrate deep, complex human emotions is on full display. 

Sea Wolf first captured attention with the breakout track “You’re A Wolf” off the debut full-length Leaves In The River. He has since released three studio albums and one stripped-down LP, establishing a reputation for his poignant delivery and dexterity as a songwriter and garnering positive coverage from NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The New York Times and more. 

Sea Wolf

Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe) 

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

1 – Forward

2 – Blood Pact

3 – Break it Down

4 – Forever Nevermore

5 – Fear of Failure 

6 – Back to the Wind 

7 – I Went Up, I Went Down 

8 – Under The Spell Again 

9 – Moving Colors 

10 – Frank O’Hara

11 – Two of Us

Disc 2: 

1 – Reflections on a Grey Dawn (feat. Dustin O’Halloran)

2 – Witchknife

3 – Two Figures

4 – Here For You

5 – Animal Mind