The Smashing Pumpkins will release their much-anticipated seventh studio album, Oceania, on 19 June, and today (30 April) the band unveiled the record's tracklisting and cover art.
Produced by Billy Corgan and Bjorn Thorsrud and recorded at Corgan's private studio in Chicago, Oceania was mixed by David Bottrill. Described as "an album within an album," it is part of the Pumpkin's 44-song work-in-progress Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. (Click here to see the cover art for Oceania in our gallery.)
According to Corgan, the band holed up in an empty movie theatre in Sedona, Arizona during the early months of 2011, mapping out rough versions of the songs and "trying to dial in the emotional terrain we were seeking. In that kind of process it wasn't that unusual from past records where I'd worked with a band as a unit to help me define a set of templates to work towards.
"We'd just come off the road, and had a good sense of what was no longer working in our eyes from a dynamic point of view. We worked hard to create space in the music, but not lose any of the emotive power that I like to have behind my songs."
Oceania marks the first stand-alone album recorded with the new lineup of The Smashing Pumpkins, which also includes guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne.
"I've been adamant in stressing that as a group, first and foremost, we are here to make new music together," said Corgan. "I'm proud to say that on Oceania I feel we've cut our own path forward. Jeff, Mike and Nicole have all made significant contributions to the tone and texture of Oceania, which is an album that is unlike any I've ever made. Yet at the same time I believe it upholds the same musical values I've always pushed for with the Pumpkins, be they progressive, emotional, epic or restless."
The tracklisting for Oceania is as follows:
Quasar
Panopticon
The Celestials
Violet Rays
My Love Is Winter
One Diamond, One Heart
Pinwheels
Oceania
Pale Horse
The Chimera
Glissandra
Inkless
Wildflower
