Mount Eerie


Mount Eerie is the musical project of Anacortes, Washington–based songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. Most of Mount Eerie's releases have been issued on Elverum's label P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd., and feature highly detailed packaging with his own artwork.

History

2003–2005: Career beginnings

Following the release of The Microphones' Mount Eerie album, Elverum announced that he would no longer use the Microphones moniker, opting instead to record under the name Mount Eerie, after the area in Anacortes, WA called Mount Erie. In an interview with CITR-FM's Discorder in September 2003, Elverum gave his reasons for this change: "Mount Eerie is a new project. The Microphones was completed, or at least at a good stopping point. I did it because I am ready for new things. I am new." Around this time, Elverum also changed the spelling of his own surname.
The first Mount Eerie releases included a limited edition CD-R of new recordings, a 12" EP recorded live to acetate with local musicians during an Australian tour, and a live triple album released by Burnt Toast Vinyl in late 2004.
Elverum returned to his hometown of Anacortes after spending several years living in Olympia, WA whilst recording for K Records, and established his own label and imprint, P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. The first official Mount Eerie studio album in Phil's eyes was "No Flashlight" Songs of the Fulfilled Night, released in August 2005. The original pressing featured an extremely large fold-out sleeve with extensive footnotes and explanations. Following pressings of the album feature more simple packaging with the original liner notes and poster absent.

2006–2015: Touring and further releases

Elverum has continued to tour and record prolifically in recent years, to considerable critical acclaim. Noteworthy releases have included Mount Eerie pts. 6 & 7, Lost Wisdom, and Wind's Poem. In 2012, Elverum released two albums, Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, and was chosen to perform at Jeff Mangum's All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, England. In 2013, Elverum was a part of the Primavera Sound line up. A new Mount Eerie double-album entitled Sauna was released on February 2, 2015.

2017–2020: ''A Crow Looked At Me'', ''Now Only'' and ''Lost Wisdom Pt.2''

In January 2017, the song "Real Death" was released from the forthcoming album A Crow Looked at Me. A second single, "Ravens", was released on February 15.
On March 24, A Crow Looked at Me was released to high critical praise. Exclaim!'s Alex Hudson scored the album a 9 out of 10, calling the record an "emotionally nuanced meditation on death that is both heartbreaking and hopeful."
January 2018, the album Now Only was announced along with the release of the album track "Distortion". A press release indicated that the album was written in 2017 shortly following the death of Geneviève Castrée, Phil's wife. The album was officially released March 16, 2018 to positive reviews, with The Atlantic describing the album as a progression from A Crow Looked At Me: "not an experience of total sadness, featuring flashes of irony, hope, and love".
After touring North America in the summer of 2017, Elverum played songs from A Crow Looked At Me across Europe and Australasia. The second of these shows became ', a live recording eventually released in September 2018 and was well received by Pitchfork who noted "the most striking thing about ' is that, even after so many performances, these songs sound as raw as they did when Elverum first committed them to paper and tape".
On September 25, 2019, Elverum announced a sequel to his 2008 collaboration with Julie Doiron, Lost Wisdom, entitled Lost Wisdom pt. 2. it was released on November 8, 2019. Two singles were released. On January 28, 2020 Elverum announced a North American tour in support of the album. That same week as the announcement Elverum toured through Canada with singer Angel Olsen. The tour was set to take place in April of that year with Julie Doiron accompanying him however was cancelled and rescheduled to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Elverum also announced a show with Angel Olsen at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Bandshell on July 22.
In 2020 Elverum appeared on a charity compilation album entitled: "The Song Is Coming From Inside the House". All proceeds from the album will go to Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund, a charity intended to help "provides fast funding to grassroots organizations led by women of color, trans people of color, and low-income women and trans people in critical". Elverum was also featured on the 20th anniversary reissue Mirah’s debut album, You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This; performing an "Of Pressure" cover.

Artistry

Elverum's music under the Mount Eerie moniker expresses a close relationship to nature in particular the minute details. My Bloody Valentine, George Gurdjieff and black metal have all been cited by Elverum as influences to the project.

Discography

Studio albums