[Cover photo of SQÜRL credit to Sara Driver]
SQÜRL, the project of Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, has announced plans to release their debut full-length album Silver Haze on May 5, 2023 via Sacred Bones Records. The announcement is accompanied by a video for “Berlin ’87 ” directed by Jem Cohen. As the title might suggest, the song carries a certain nostalgia for a time and a place.
SQÜRL shares the following about the new song:
Jim created the basic guitar tracks first in his home studio, with memories of living in Berlin in 1987 floating around him. The tracks were then SQÜRLized by Carter & Randall at Circular Ruin.
Regarding Jem Cohen’s involvement in the making of the video, the band says:
SQÜRL is so happy to have a film by Jem Cohen to accompany the first single, ‘Berlin ’87,’ from our new album Silver Haze. He’s one of our favorite filmmakers, and with his magical hands and eyes, he somehow captures the most evocative details that most people don’t even notice. The images he has chosen and shaped so perfectly evoke the feeling of our music, and then elevate it to another level. Our big thanks to you, Jem!
Jem Cohen has this to say about directing the video and its special footage:
Roaming Central and Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, backpack crammed with Super 8 cameras, I was deeply moved by the landscape. I couldn’t have guessed some of the footage would surface over a quarter-century later in a film for Jim and Carter’s band. They work hard to forge their expansive sound, with its indomitable beat and secret harmonics. Glad I had that backpack, and to be of service.
SQÜRL was formed by Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan in 2009 to score Jarmusch’s movie The Limits of Control. Over a decade later and with numerous EPs and film scores under their belt, SQÜRL are set to release their very first full-length record.
Silver Haze was produced by Randall Dunn, who has also worked with the likes of Sunn O))), Boris, Earth, Zola Jesus, and Marissa Nadler, all of whom are artists that SQÜRL cite as inspirations. The album enlists Charlotte Gainsbourg , Anika , and Marc Ribot as collaborators.
The announcement of Silver Haze comes on the back of sold-out live shows across the UK & Europe that saw Jarmusch and Carter perform an original live score to four films by Man Ray. More live dates will follow in due course.
