Preview the new EP from The Shackeltons (out today on iTunes)

This just in from Chambersburg: our favorite Central PA post-punk fivesome, The Shackeltons—whom you might remember from a 2011 Key Studio Session, as well as a talked-about appearance at the 2008 XPoNential Music Festival—have started to unveil the new studio recordings they’ve been working hard on these past three years.

Available today via iTunes, the Mum EP is a touching tribute to singer Mark Redding’s mother Theresa Dean Redding, who passed away from ovarian cancer in winter of 2011. In a song-cycle of four new Shackeltons tracks, mixed with old home recordings of Theresa Dean singing and speaking, Redding and his band meditate on love, life, death and family as Mothers Day approaches.

Track Listing
1. Mom Sings
2. The Drip
3. The End
4. Mum
5. Mom Talks of Heaven
6. Lights

Below, you can listen to our Key Studio Sessions recordings of two of these songs, and watch a video Redding filmed for “The End.” As he described in a 2009 NPR Music feature, the song was written when he took a morning walk with his mother and, “after hugging her, hearing her say, ‘This could be my last day.'” The video follows that walking path in downtown Chambersburg.

“Mother’s Day gave me motivation to get this project released,” Redding says. “The songs deal with our journey together. My mom was so keen and caring. She is my compass.”

Theresa Dean and Mark Redding. Says Mark, 'She found drop ceiling tiles in a dumpster and painted on them. She was a super sweet and sensitive woman with wit, warmth, and generosity.'