UPDATE 9/9/20: The Circles Around The Sun covers of the Grateful Dead tracks “Mountains of the Moon” and “Ship of Fools” featuring vocals by the late Neal Casal are now available to stream on the digital platform of your choice here. You can also stream the two covers via Spotify below.
Circles Around The Sun (w/ Neal Casal) – “Ship of Fools”/”Mountains of the Moon” (Grateful Dead covers)
In other Circles Around The Sun news, you can check out our recent feature interview with keyboardist Adam MacDougall about reckoning with Neal’s death and finding a path forward without him here.
[8/19/20]: Circles Around The Sun have shared their covers of the Grateful Dead‘s “Mountains of the Moon” and “Ship of Fools” featuring the late Neal Casal‘s vocals which appeared as part of the Rex Foundation‘s Daze Between streaming marathon honoring the 25th anniversary of Jerry Garcia‘s passing. Both Garcia/Hunter covers were also released on Bandcamp earlier this month. You can download both the Circles Around The Sun renditions of “Mountains of the Moon” and “Ship of Fools” here.
As the band explained in a statement when the two songs were released to Bandcamp, “‘Mountains of the Moon’ was recorded by Neal and [keyboardist] Adam [MacDougall] in 2014 for a Record Store Day 7″ that Neal released, and was used again during the Fare Thee Well sessions. Neal recorded his solo version of ‘Ship of Fools’ in 2009. We now have added drums, bass, and some more keys to these recordings and remixed them to make something new and special in Neal Casal and Jerry Garcias memory.”
Related: Remembering Neal Casal’s Final Circles Around The Sun Show At LOCKN’ [Photos/Video]
The revamped “Mountains of the Moon” takes the thematic subject matter quite literally, offering a synth-heavy, cosmic reimagining of the Aoxomoxoa (1969) chestnut. “Ship of Fools” is considerably more mellow, with Casal’s earnest vocals serving as the focal point. Subtle instrumentation and vocal harmonies from the band serve to highlight this highly emotional performance.
Of note, Neal’s “Ship of Fools” vocal track was previously utilized by MacDougall, Jesse Aycock, Joe Russo, Jeff Hill, and Tony Leone for a live, posthumous “collaboration” during an all-star memorial performance at The Capitol Theatre shortly after Casal took his own life last summer.
You can listen to both of the recently released Circles Around The Sun Grateful Dead covers below or head to Bandcamp to purchase a download.
Circles Around The Sun – “Mountains of the Moon” (Grateful Dead)
Circles Around The Sun – “Ship of Fools” (Grateful Dead)
The post Circles Around The Sun Share Grateful Dead Covers With Neal Casal On Vocals [Listen] appeared first on L4LM.
