Blitzen Trapper - New Album "100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions" Out Now (Yep Roc Records)
“Somehow, after nearly 25 years, Blitzen still remains un-trapped"
– Bandcamp Daily, ‘Spring 2024 Hotlist’
Blitzen Trapper’s expansive new album 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions is out today via Yep Roc Records. Following advance singles “Planetarium” (which features backing vocals by Eric D. Johnson (Bonny Light Horseman/Fruit Bats) and Anna Tivel), “Hello Hallelujah,” and “Cosmic Backseat Education,” the LP arrives in stores to praise and support from Bandcamp Daily, Uproxx Indiecast, Beginnings podcast, KCRW (‘Today’s Top Tune’), and more. Blitzen Trapper will celebrate the album tonight with a hometown record release show at Portland, OR’s Aladdin Theater before embarking on a number of tour dates throughout the summer; a current itinerary is below.
The enthralling 12-track 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions arrives nearly four years after 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, and sees Blitzen Trapper leaning into their psych rock-washed, classic songwriting roots to create one of the finest works of their career–nearly 20 years in. “This whole project grew out of a box of old four-track tapes from the ’90s that I found recently,” Earley explains. “The tapes were full of songs I’d written and recorded back when I was 19 or 20 years old, and the sound and the spirit of those recordings got me excited to start writing music again, to go back to working the way I did when I was first starting out.”
Additionally inspired by Earley’s fascination with Buddhist texts and meditation (the title comes from a phrase that appears over and over in the Mahayana sutras), the album offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, and the circularity of existence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and unfolding like a riddle-filled journey that asks many questions and offers no answers. The production–courtesy of Earley and recorded by guitarist Nathan Vanderpool at his rural Washington studio–is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and the result is a gorgeous, sprawling collection wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars–a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once.
Blitzen Trapper on tour:
5/17 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
5/18 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA (SOLD OUT)
5/19 - Bellingham, WA - Shakedown
5/25 - Colorado Springs, CO - Meadowgrass Music Festival (TICKETS)
6/8 - Naches, WA - Chinook Fest
6/29 - Baker City, OR - Churchill School
6/30 - Boise, ID - Shrine Ballroom
7/2 - Avon, CO - Hot Summer Nights
7/3 - Crested Butte, CO - Center for the Arts
7/5 - Silverthorne, CO - Rainbow Park
7/6 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
7/7 - Grand Junction, CO - Mesa Theatre
7/9 - Park City, UT - Big Stars Bright Nights
7/11 - Bozeman, MT - The Elm
7/12 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theatre
7/13 - Spokane, WA - The District Bar
8/3 - Asheville, NC - AVLFest
8/10 - Eugene, OR - Hult Center for the Performing Arts
8/11 - Ukiah, CA - Sundays in the Park
Blitzen Trapper:
