Toby Driver confirms details of new album, due out via Blood Music in September

TOBY DRIVER has today confirmed details of his forthcoming album, They Are The Shield. The six track album is the follow up to 2017's Madonnawhore, and will be released on September 21 via Blood Music. They Are The Shield pick up where its predecessor left off - continuing with TOBY DRIVER's exploration of ballads.

Heavy Blog Is Heavy have debuted the first track - Glyph - from the album, which they describe as "intricate and intriguing". Listen to Glyph via Heavyblogisheavy.com here

Of the track, Toby comments:

"Glyph is a good place to start because it's the most balanced track on the album, featuring all the elements that characterize each song without skewing too far in any one direction, so we thought it would give a good impression of the record as a whole.

"This song is about a person who I have a great deal of respect for, who did me wrong, and took something from me, but the joke's on them because what I had was actually cursed."

As a multi-instrumentalist and frequent collaborator, TOBY DRIVER is no stranger to building musical bridges or blurring genre boundaries. However, with They Are The Shield, he enlisted the talents of a selection of classical musicians to add another layer of depth to his compositions. The starting point for the album began at Roulette - a Brooklyn-based venue supporting, facilitating and showcasing creative talents - when Toby was afforded enough budget to approach musicians outside of his usual sphere.

The resulting duo of performances featured tracks from Madonnawhore but with a new, more multifaceted presentation, followed by a worldwide premiere of new compositions featuring strings. With his creative eye opened to new possibilities, DRIVER was inspired to commit his latest findings to tape. Not one to do things by halves, he enlisted the Grammy-nominated artist and composer, Pauline Kim Harris; violinist, Conrad Harris; keyboardist, composer and producer, Kelly Moran; drummer and composer, Brian Chase; and vocalist, Bridget Bellavia.

Upon entering EastSide Sound studio in New York with 5-time nominated 3-time Grammy Award–winning audio engineer, Marc Urselli (whose credits include Nick Cave, John Zorn, Lou Reed, Marianne Faithful and countless others), TOBY DRIVER was primed to utilise not only his own broad experience, but that of his new found peers.

The resulting album is a collection of deeply personal, reflective and autobiographical ballads that pinpoint a particular time in TOBY DRIVER's life. The six songs ruminate on the small details; on life and relationships, and the turning of pages. The sound evoked is impossible to attribute to a single genre; a swirling brew of unrestrained influences and inspirations that focuses on effusing emotion, and at times rawness.

Best known for his work with prolific experimental band, Kayo Dot, TOBY DRIVER lays bare a more personal side on his solo work. The explorative and open-ended nature of Kayo Dot carries over, and TOBY DRIVER's insatiable appetite for musical exploration - which may often take him to strange and unyielding places - manifests on They Are The Shield as expansive, emotive and relatable ballads.

Track List:

1. Anamnesis Park

2. Glyph

3. 470 Nanometers

4. Scaffold of Digital Snow

5. Smoke-Scented Mycelium

6. The Knot

They Are The Shield is released via Blood Music on September 21. Pre-orders are available now.