Setting: Shone a Rainbow Light On – Out Now

Setting‘s mesmerizing, meditative new album Shone a Rainbow Light On is finally here—shipping, in shops, and streaming worldwide. Early critical acclaim includes a 9/10 review by Uncut and a 4/5 review by MOJO, who call it “heavenly.” We agree wholeheartedly. Step into the pocosin:

The debut recording by Setting, a trio comprising Nathan Bowles (solo/trio, Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) on strings, keys, and percussion; Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors, Peeesseye) on harmoniums, synthesizers, and piano zither; and Joe Westerlund (solo, Califone, Sylvan Esso, Jake Xerxes Fussell) on drums, percussion, and metallophones, Shone a Rainbow Light On traverses textural, phosphorescent topography with a certified organic folk-engine. Fueled by a vibratory hybrid of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, these four stately longform pieces sound like a UFO slowly sinking into a peat bog. 

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Early Acknowledgments

9/10. Cosmic improv folk that flows like the river Eno.– Uncut 

Richly textural and delicately performed, Setting exude a lingering warmth, their edges softened as if left out in the sun. [Shone a Rainbow Light On is] lethargic in all the right ways, untroubled by the need to shock or surprise its audience – and yet surprise it does. – The Quietus

A dark, motorik melter. Falling in nicely with some of the hypnogogic folk on Ghost Box or the works of Tenniscoates, [it] simmers with an insistent energy that’s hovering between white-knuckle tension and oblivion.– Raven Sings the Blues

[A] kind of cosmic ambient music with a lot of subtle action under the hood.– The Wire

4/5. Heavenly. ‘We Center’ is levitational kin to Fripp and Eno’s No Pussyfooting, or Cale and Riley’s Church of Anthrax. Elsewhere, the ebbing post-jazz fugue state of ‘Zoetropics’ is in a neighbouring zone to that of Natural Information Society, while ‘A Sun Harp’s’ freeform pluck and rustle bears comparison with The Necks. High-end reference points for a record that spectacularly reconciles micro-detailed improv with deep-listening ambience. – MOJO 

A bold artistic statement … Those that successfully tune in will find an intense, immersive instrumental set that defies easy categorisation – is it prog rock? Jazz? Folk? Classical? Americana? – and is unexpectedly absorbing.– Morning Star

… a moody landscape where tones loom up out of obscurity, surge, vibrate and dissipate, much like objects in thick mist.– Dusted

• The debut recording by Setting, a trio comprising Nathan Bowles (solo, Pelt, Black Twig Pickers); Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors, Peeesseye); and Joe Westerlund (solo, Califone, Sylvan Esso, Jake Xerxes Fussell)
• Deluxe LP edition features 140g black virgin vinyl and a reverse board jacket with art by Timothy Breen
• Deluxe CD edition features a gatefold jacket with art by Timothy Breen
• RIYL: Popol Vuh, Brian Eno’s Ambient 4, Harmonia, The Necks

SETTING LIVE

Fresh from a tour with the great Califone, Setting are heading out again this fall. Levitate with them.

10/7/23 – Durham, NC – FEAST
10/26/23 – Asheville, NC – Black Mountain College Museum w/ Sally Anne Morgan

12/7/23 – Washington, DC – Rhizome
12/8/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Solar Myth w/ Br-An-Ch
12/9/23 – Kingston, NY – Tubby’s
12/10/23 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool
12/14 – Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room

Setting Links

Paradise of Bachelors | Website | Instagram |  YouTube | Bandcamp