May 09, 2012
Arguably the most popular and most successful group in Latvia, Prāta vētra (known as Brainstorm internationally) have released their latest album – Vēl viena klusā daba.
Their first new studio album in four years (since Tur kaut kam ir jābūt, released in 2008), the songwriting lead on this album was taken by keyboardist Māris Mihelsons, and was recorded in Hudson, New York, Oxford, England, as well as Rīga. The album was produced by David Field, working in conjunction with the band. The English language song “Lantern” is the album’s first single.
In addition to Mihelsons, Prāta vētra is made up of vocalist Renārs Kaupers, guitarist Jānis Jubalts, drummer Kaspars Roga, and joined here by long time bassist Ingars Viļums. The band was founded in 1989, and has been performing for more than two decades.
An English language version of the album is also planned, though specific details as to release date have not yet been provided.
The band has a tour of Latvia planned this summer with the following dates and locations: July 28 - Jelgava, August 3 - Ventspils, August 5 - Saldus, August 10 - Valmiera, August 12 - Preiļi and the closing show on August 17 at the Skonto Stadium in Rīga.
For more information about Prāta vētra, visit www.pratavetra.lv.
Egils Kaljo is an American-born Latvian from the New York area who lives in Rīga, Latvia. When not working in the information technology field, he sings in the Latvian Academy of Culture mixed choir Sõla, does occasional translation work, and has been known to sing and play guitar at the Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs in Old Rīga. Kaljo began listening to Latvian music as soon as he was able to put a record on a record player, and still has old Bellacord 78 rpm records lying around somewhere.
