Release of Pokey LaFarge's new album delayed by pressing plant issues

Scheduled for release today, Pokey's latest, In The Blossom of Their Shade, will now be out October 15th.     Photo: Eliot Lee Hazel 

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Pokey LaFarge has delayed the release of his new album In The Blossom of Their Shade to October 15th. Originally scheduled for release Friday (September 10) via New West Records, the 10-song set has been moved due to manufacturing delays. In The Blossom of Their Shade was produced and arranged by Pokey LaFarge and Chris Seefried and recorded in Chicago, IL & Los Angeles, CA. The collection is the follow up to LaFarge’s critically acclaimed 2020 studio LP Rock Bottom Rhapsody. 

Pokey just shared an audio clip for “Drink of You,” saying “Still in the sway of my Rock Bottom Rhapsody, I suppose, in both mind and spirit, having just recorded the album back in early 2019, here’s another self-indulgent heartbreak song. Deep in the bottle and the only way I wanted to get out was by drinking my way out and singing about it. I don’t drink anymore but it’s still an enjoyable song to sing because of the ¾ time. It sounds like a jazz club / barroom sea chanty.” Check out the studio version of "Drink of You" followed by a pre-pandemic performance clip shot at Boston's Brighton Music Hall show on November 10, 2019.

Following that solo tour, LaFarge packed up and left his Los Angeles abode behind in March 2020, putting his belongings in storage in anticipation of spending extensive time on the road in support of his then-forthcoming album, Rock Bottom Rhapsody. He couldn’t wait to head down to Austin a few weeks later to showcase those songs and launch the album with his band at SXSW. Then the pandemic hit and all of LaFarge’s well-laid plans went into thin air.

Speaking to NPR Music, LaFarge offered, “This album is a result of my 2020 experience. Before the pandemic, I was in a dark place but the pandemic actually created the much needed space for me to reflect. Turns out that being completely sedentary for once was a good thing. I found peace in the stillness. I was able to recalibrate what it is I do and why I’m doing it. Who I’m to do it with and most importantly, who I’m doing it for.” 

Unlike its melancholy predecessor, In the Blossom of Their Shade showcases the positivity of coming out of the darkness and into the light and is one of his strongest and most mature lyrical efforts to date. The record was nearly titled Siesta Love since it captures the thematic notion of being the perfect summer afternoon soundtrack and is a far cry from the swing and blues-infused songs of his earlier work. Looking in, inspired by the deep soul not just from these shores, but from distant geographical places like Africa or South America, LaFarge set out to create a body of work that paired emotional lyrics with a killer groove and grabby melodies.

Pokey LaFarge will be going on tour in October in support of In the Blossom of Their Shade with a two-night stand planned for The Horseshoe in Toronto on November 19 and 20. 

Pokey LaFarge’s In the Blossom of Their Shade will be available across digital platforms, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited to 2,000 Translucent Orange Vinyl Edition will be available at Independent Retail and packaged with a bonus Peach Colored 7-inch featuring an unreleased bonus track. A limited to 1,000 Green Vinyl Edition will also be packaged with the bonus Peach Colored 7-inch and is now available for pre-order right here.