Release Due 7th August
LP Version Indies Only Shortcake Vinyl
Sometime in 2006 or 2007, Jason Molina moved from the midwest to London. Separated from his bandmates and friends and never one for idleness, Molina explored his new home with fervor. The eighth gate was Molina’s way into London, a gate only passable in the mind. Eight Gates is the last collection of solo studio recordings Molina made before he passed from complications related to alcoholism in 2013. Recorded in London around the time of the supposed spider bite and Jimi’s supposed parakeets, some of the songs (“Whispered Away,” “Thistle Blue”) are fully-realized — dark, moody textures that call to mind his earlier work on The Lioness. In many ways, The Eighth Gate is incarnate: mythical, passable only in the mind, built for himself and partway imaginary but shared, thankfully, with us.