OKKERVIL RIVER's new full-length album The Stand Ins is the sequel to 2007's critically acclaimed The Stage Names, which Pitchfork praised as "...one of the year's best," with The New York Times proclaiming, "This band's musical arsenal keeps getting fuller."
The Stand Ins was recorded in Austin and produced by longtime collaborator Brian Beattie and Okkervil River. The album features 11 songs and includes the track "Lost Coastlines," on which Sheff and recently departed Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater share a duet on the joys and hardships of trying to keep the band together. Of the process Will Sheff explains, "We had so many songs we were excited about that we briefly threw around the idea of just putting out a double record. Instead, we decided to take a group of songs that fit with each other and turn that into The Stage Names, setting the rest aside for a future release, a The Stage Names sequel." The Stand Ins is that sequel, part two of a staggered double album. Like artist William Schaff's embroidered artwork, which depicts what's happening underneath The Stage Names' front-cover quicksand hand,The Stand Ins picks up exactly where Part One left off but also delves deeper into the story and theme of The Stage Names. It is a full-length, fleshed-out, deeply ambitious labor of love.
"Sheff sings like he's on fire but writes like a novelist, reeling off memorable images with an ease that belies his craftsmanship." - Harp
