Hemlock Ernst, the rap alter-ego of Future Islands singer Samuel T. Herring, is gearing up to release a new album, Studying Absence, on October 16 via Beans’ label Tygr Rawwk Rcrds (pre-order). The album was entirely produced by longtime Beans collaborator Icky Reels, and Sam himself gives some background on how it all came together:

This record came together because of a feature I did for the Beans album ‘Venga’. I didn’t know it at the time but the song, “Anti-Star System”, and the album, were produced by Icky Reels. After we did the song and the record came out, Beans hit me back and said he thought I should do a full project with Icky. He thought that I really needed to challenge myself, that it would bring something out in me. Beans and his group Anti-Pop Consortium were and are heroes of mine. ‘Tragic Epilogue’ by APC is one of the most influential records in my life. To get that kind of attention and push from Beans was huge, but I didn’t know how I felt about the idea at the time. I saw it as exactly that, a challenge. With Hemlock I tend to work over soul and jazz break type beats. Icky Reels’ production was a far more industrial and acidic landscape. I knew this would be more of a cerebral process, breaking down the beats, challenging the rhythms, finding the voices. But I decided to accept the challenge.

Suffice to say, this is the most dense and challenging record I’ve been a part of making. I was able to go places with my voice I’ve never committed to tape. I am changing character and flow multiple times in some songs. And as far as the writing, in the beginning I didn’t know if I could find the emotion in the machine of his sound, but his production actually made me dig deeper. Icky’s music pushed me to uncover stories and memories that I hadn’t thought about for decades. Made me question myself and look at my whole life splayed out in front of me. I’m talking about things I’ve never talked about and that’s a great feeling to break new ground at 40, with two decades of work behind me. Some of my favorite lines I’ve ever written are included in this record. And that’s an amazing feeling as an artist, digging in and finding the treasure of the self so you can give it to everyone else.

Sam recently released two of the singles, including one featuring ELUCID of Armand Hammer (“Remains”), and today he released a song that features Fatboi Sharif and Beans himself, “Old Dead Dogs.” It’s a woozy indie-rap song that gets pretty far-out at times, and you can hear it below.

Hemlock Ernst and Icky Reels also announced a short tour together, including shows with Fatboi Sharif, experimental NYC rap band Wave Generators (Nosaj of New Kingdom + Height Keech), and more. There’s a NYC show on November 21 at Baby’s All Right with Wave Generators and additional local support from PremRock of ShrapKnel. Tickets are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

Fatboi Sharif, meanwhile, has been having a very busy year. After dropping the one-track, 10-minute Something About Shirley (with producer Roper Williams) in February and the very trippy Psychedelics Wrote The Bible EP (with producer Duncecap) in July, he teamed up with Fat Tony and Steel Tipped Dove for the collaborative project Brain Candy that came out last week. If you haven’t heard that yet, stream it below. We spoke to Sharif for a Q&A in the summer issue of our digital magazine.

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Tracklist
1. Raised in the South
2. Break Time / In the Factory
3. Exhuming the King
4. Hold the Wires on Ellis (ft. Egyptian Lover)
5. Old Dead Dogs (ft. Beans & Fatboi Sharif)
6. Persimmons
7. Remains (ft. ELUCID)
8. Testify

Hemlock Ernst — 2024 Tour Dates
10/20 – Cleveland, OH – Crobar – Icky Reels
10/21 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl – Icky Reels (with Wave Generators, MCACM)
10/23 – Brooklyn, NY – The Lot Radio – Fatboi Sharif + Icky Reels
10/24 – Pawtucket, RI – News Cafe – Fatboi Sharif + Icky Reels
11/21 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right – Hemlock Ernst + Icky Reels (with Wave Generators, PremRock)
11/22 – Baltimore, MD – Mercury Theatre – Hemlock Ernst + Icky Reels (with Wave Generators, Eze Jackson)
11/23 – Richmond, VA – Cobra Cabana – Hemlock Ernst + Icky Reels (with Wave Generators, Lunch Special)
11/24 – Raleigh, NC – King’s – Hemlock Ernst + Icky Reels (with Wave Generators, Emceein Eye)