Word from Oakland, California is that the Shants (whose earlier Russian River Songs was reviewed here) will release their first full-length album, Beautiful Was the Night, in September. There’s a release party scheduled for Viracocha (998 Valencia St., San Francisco) on October 8, for those of you in the Bay Area. The band writes:

The album is called Beautiful Was The Night (which is a phrase taken from Longfellow’s epic poem Evangeline). It was recorded in Oakland at Rec Center Studios and Tones On Tail Studio by Eliot Curtis (who has worked on records for Bare Wires, Nectarine Pie), with some vocal harmonies from Brianna Lea Pruett & Quinn DeVeaux, violin by Howie Cockrill, and horns by Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Black Keys) as well as the Blue Bone Express. Half the album was funded by our fans, via Kickstarter.

As an appetizer for the album, they’re offering the track “Baton Rouge,” of which they write “It’s basically a letter to the city of Baton Rouge, as though it were an ex-lover.” Enjoy!

MP3 | Baton Rouge