Propeller Sound Recordings, announcing a new album and project:

We are honored to welcome The Salt Collective to the Propeller Sound Recordings Family!!

A collective of artists joined French rock-trio Salt to create an exuberant record full of joy. Using the original demos and song sketches created by Salt in France, 12 new tracks were created in an American studio to help celebrate the very stuff of life, that from which it springs. The Salt Collective was born, connected through art featuring Matthew Caws, Juliana Hatfield, Matthew Sweet, Peter Holsapple, Richard Lloyd, Mitch Easter, Anton Barbeau, The dB's rhythm section (Gene Holder & Will Rigby), Susan Cowsill, Pat Sansone, and newcomer Faith Jones. Produced and guided by Chris Stamey.

We proudly release the first single "Asylum" from the upcoming album 'Life' featuring Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) & Juliana Hatfield.

propellersoundrecordings.com/collections/the-salt-collective-life

Réalisation : César Catherin Ingénieur du son : Anaïs Jurewicz Minor Alps - Waiting For You Session du 15 Avril 2014

Réalisation : César Catherin Ingénieur du son : Anaïs Jurewicz Minor Alps - Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes) Session du 15 Avril 2014

From the session on April 15, 2014, solo acoustic versions of 'Waiting For You' and 'Bette Davis Eyes'

"Minor Alps" sans Juliana != Minor Alps. Hmmph. Still great though.

Also, from the same session see Always Love.

Matthew Caws:

We might do more, but Nada Surf is my priority. [Minor Alps] was a special treat because this is [Nada Surf's] first real break in 20 years.

In an interview with Rip It Up, Matthew confirms that he views his work with Juliana as a side project.

Although there may be more to come from Minor Alps, he says that work with Nada Surf will recommence in early 2014.

If you've been paying attention to the odd tweet from various parties since the beginning of this year, you'll know that Juliana has been working with Nada Surf's Matthew Caws.

They're now ready to go public.

They're calling themselves Minor Alps and releasing Get There - an eleven track album of songs written together on October 29, 2013.

There are live dates in the US during November:

08 Neptune Theater - Seattle, WA

09 Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR

11 The Independent - SF, CA

12 Echoplex - LA, CA

14 Soda Bar - San Diego, CA

16 Cedar Cultural Ctr - Minneapolis, MN

17 Schubas - Chicago, IL

19 Black Cat - Washington, DC

20 Bowery Ballroom - NY, NY

22 World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA

23 The Sinclair - Boston, MA

Fan pre-sale for the November tour dates starts Wednesday noon eastern time: http://t.co/WtdFVF2jOz General on sale is Friday, August 16th.

— Juliana Hatfield (@julianahatfield) August 12, 2013

From the bio at Paradigm Agency:

In the year before they recorded these songs (mostly with Caws’ old friend Tom Beaujour at his studio in Hoboken, NJ) Hatfield and Caws wrote together in brief but intense bursts at his studio in Brooklyn, at her place in Cambridge, MA, and at Caws’ current home in Cambridge, England. Those sessions themselves inspired one of the songs, as Matthew explains: “We were hanging out and working on ideas for a few days in England and it was such a positive thing that I really missed it when it was over. We spent most of the time working together, but sometimes we’d go to separate rooms to write. ‘Wish You Were Upstairs’ is about energy by proxy—how collaborating with someone, or just being industrious at the same time, can be comforting and inspiring, particularly if they’re just fifteen feet away.”

“That’s exactly what it’s like,” Juliana interjects. “I wanted us to have a mind meld, a musical one, because I know there are these barriers between people and it takes a long time to get close to someone. We were just getting to know each other while we were trying to write songs together. When we first got together writing, I felt very vulnerable because I usually do it alone. It’s a delicate balance to go to that vulnerable place yet do it in front of another person. That was the challenge, but the more we did it, the more it felt natural.”

Choosing a name for their self-sufficient combo became one of those long mulled-over decisions that ultimately get resolved in an instant. Decades ago, Matthew’s family had purchased a cheap mountainside cottage in France, with no running water or electricity, where he spent several summers as a child. The mountain overlooking the region, the Mont Ventoux, while technically part of the Alps, isn’t referred to as such because there are no other mountains nearby. Matthew described it as a “minor alp” to his friend, photographer Autumn de Wilde, years ago, who immediately said “great band name, write that down.” So, as Matthew puts it, “in the tradition of Iron Butterfly or Led Zeppelin, band names that contain contradictions, we chose Minor Alps—humble mountains.”

On a more metaphorical level, Hatfield believes, the moniker suits them: “Maybe the whole world doesn’t know who we are, but the people who do really appreciate us” – making Minor Alps nothing less than a major event.

The official home for the project is minoralps.tumblr.com. Also on Facebook.

Ooh.

as posted yesterday on the Instagram by occasional Juliana photographer and remixer Brad Walsh.

rock and roll! twitter.com/julianahatfiel…

— Juliana Hatfield (@julianahatfield) March 10, 2013

For those who don't follow Juliana on Twitter, she posted the above tweet earlier this month, plus others from the studio in New Jersey, where she continues to work with Matthew Caws of Nada Surf.

No further news has emerged on this project which doesn't seem to be following the fan funded route so far.

The two have worked together before of course. They've guested on each other's albums and Nada Surf's Fruit Fly featured on Juliana's eponymous covers album last year.

been making big plans with matthew caws twitter.com/julianahatfiel…

— Juliana Hatfield (@julianahatfield) January 31, 2013