The Eternal

'The Eternal' is Sonic Youth's 2009 celebration of newfound freedom. After many years signed to an ever precarious corporate label, the band has been liberated and is releasing this CD with their friends at Matador. Inspirations ran high in preparation for the recording. Abandoning the time tested routine of writing and rehearsing a cycle of songs in one time period, SY changed tactics and would compose two to three tracks one weekend and record them the following weekend. After a solid month they had a dozen killers.

The writing took place in the Ecstatic Peace Folk + Cinema Basement in Northampton, MA and in the bands own Echo Canyon West in Hoboken, NJ. All recordings were done at Echo Canyon West with John Agnello at the board and Aaron Mullan in full assist. Agnello and band mixed the monster at Water Music in Hoboken. Greg Calbi mastered it beautifully at Sterling Sound in NYC.

These twelve tunes are a fireworks display of Sonic Youth touchstones. From the primal nowave attack of its earliest days, to the radical chording and song structures of its 90s period, to the more focused and contemporary explorations of the last five years.

The cover art is a painting by the late, great American folk artist John Fahey.