Photo by Ella Andersson.
$9.00 – $29.00
Other ways to purchase this release: iTunes | Amazon | Bandcamp
“4 stars. The world conjured by Kayla Cohen’s low, mournful voice, American primitive guitar, and hazy, wandering songs feels simultaneously familiar and unknown, like spectral early ’70s Laurel Canyon incantations from a singer whose name and face is always just out of the reach of memory … Simultaneously spare and complex, observational folk ballads turned psychic and strange by metal-stringed dissonance and troubling Symbolist metaphor. For Open to Chance, Itasca have become a band… breathing warm life into the ghostly riddles of cold watchmen and voices from the forest and releasing them out into the corporal world.” – MOJO
“With the early-morning, autumnal sound of her backing band, she is able to conjure up something resembling transcendence … an atmosphere recognizable to anyone who’s spent time with Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. Here’s hoping that many will soon be following in her path.” – Pitchfork
“Enchanting, mind-expanding.” – Rookie
“Itasca has always been an arresting project, but it’s never sounded more full or more clear than on Open to Chance.” – Ad Hoc
“Just exquisitely beautiful.” – Stereogum
“The steady acoustic canter, the sighing slide guitar, the serenely idyllic images: It all suggests the balm of a gentle breeze beneath the bright sunlight, a feeling you’d want to capture indefinitely. With these three minutes, Cohen does exactly that, suspending an instant in eternal amber.” – Pitchfork
“Her album is shaping up to be no-skip, take-me-away prettiness.” – Stereogum
Thanks to Folk Radio UK for hosting an advance stream of Itasca‘s stately, mesmerizing PoB debut Open to Chance. Listen here, or below.
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Pitchfork gives the record a 7.8, with Marc Masters writing that it is “a sprawling fascination with the natural world and the nature of people … a record about trying something new and journeying into unknown experiences with eager, if cautious, optimism. Much of that joy comes from Cohen’s guitar and voice, two finely-tuned instruments that are uniquely adept at conveying her ideas and images. It’s the appreciation of possibility, of the paths ahead and the ones left behind, that makes Open to Chance compelling.”
Thanks also to Andrew Male and MOJO for their enthusiastic and aptly written 4-star review of the album.
Itasca will be headlining dates throughout the Midwest and East Coast this fall before heading off to Europe for an extensive tour with fellow traveller Ryley Walker. Full dates below.
October 13th – Los Angeles, CA – Resident – Record Release show w/ Simon Joyner, David Nance
October 14th – Los Angeles, CA – Daytime in-store performance at the Numero Group pop-up store (5PM)
Fall 2016 East Coast/Midwest
Tues Oct 25 – Minneapolis, MN – Coming Soon*
Weds Oct 26 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle*
Thurs Oct 27 – Lafayette, IN – The Spot*
Fri Oct 28 – Indianapolis, IN – State Street Pub
Sat Oct 29 – Nashville, TN – The 5 Spot w/ Promised Land Sound
Sun Oct 30 – Asheville, NC – The Mothlight w/ Wes Tirey
Mon Oct 31 – Durham, NC – tba
Tues Nov 1 – Philadelphia, PA – tba w/ Rosali
Weds Nov 2 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool w/ Zachary Cale, Pigeons
Thurs Nov 3 – Cleveland, OH – Happy Dog
*with Moon Bros
Europe dates, opening for Ryley Walker:
7. November – Amsterdam, NL / Paradiso Noord
8. November – Groningen, NL / VERA
9. November – Paris, FR / Espace B
10. November – Brussels, BE / AB Club
11. November – Bruges, BE / Cactus Club
13. November – Brighton, UK / The Haunt
14. November – Manchester, UK / Ruby Lounge
15. November – Glasgow, UK / Broadcast
16. November – Birmingham, UK / Hare & Hounds
17. November – London, UK / Islington Assembly Hall
29. November – Lausanne, CH / Le Bourg
30. November – Schorndorf, DE / Manufaktur
1. December – Erlangen, DE / E-Werk
2. December – Berlin, DE / Kantine am Berghain
4. December – Oslo, NO / John Dee
5. December – Stockholm, SE / Bryggarsalen
6. December – Copenhagen, DK / Pumpehuset
7. December – Hamburg, DE / Nochtspeicher
