Search - Jump Little Children :: Sparrow

A new Jump, Little Children album will drop on September 28, 2018. The band will also launch a multi-city tour throughout the Southeast, major cities of the Northeast, and Chicago this Fall. Follow their adventures @jumplittlechildren on both Facebook and Instagram.
The decision to record again was made after several successful ?reunion? tours, with many of their shows selling out in minutes. Members Evan Bivins, Matt Bivins, Jay Clifford, Jonathan Gray, and Ward Williams realized it wasn?t enough to gather occasionally; they?d missed each other and their enthusiastic fanbase. A PledgeMusic campaign began in January 2018 to fund their 5th studio album and reached over 100% of its goal by April 2018. Ten years of life experiences have given substance and texture to the twelve newest Jump, Little Children songs. Lead singer and songwriter Jay Clifford says that the new album?s title track "Sparrow" speaks to the concept of returning to what you love. Sparrow is not a throwback album in any way, though loyal listeners will hear nods to the band?s Celtic music origins, the heavier distortions of Magazine, orchestrated and dark elements of Vertigo and the loops and electronic noises found on Between the Dim and the Dark. The band is ever-grateful to its fans, a true community that remained friends and showed up in full force when asked to help fund the album. "We've been in a constant state of surprise," says multi-instrumentalist Matthew Bivins, "Surprised that the fans were still ready and waiting for our return after ten years. Surprised that they?ve continued to attend shows and connect with us online. Surprised that they so enthusiastically rallied behind this new album. We love surprises, and we love our fans. We truly would and could not be doing this if it weren't for them." The question is whether this new music will attract new fans. In a musical landscape that now includes the anthemic acoustic ballads of The Lumineers, the accordion and flute pop of The Decemberists and banjo-based punk of Mumford and Sons, will Jump, Little Children's once left-of-center art pop appeal to a generally more eclectic taste? The band hopes so, confident they?ve created something for every era of Jump fan with Sparrow. "It's definitely a 'listening album'," says Ward Williams, who plays cello and guitar. "There are songs that will fit in between Portugal. The Man and St. Vincent in a Spotify playlist. But as a whole it has an arc to it, a specific feeling from start to finish. Starts off a little frenetic, settles into a 'vibe', gets a little weird for a minute, and ends with something so pretty and?hopeful". This "vibe" is in great part due to expert production from longtime collaborator Josh Kaler (Heather Nova, Paris Monster, Matthew Perryman Jones), one of the band's dearest friends and favorite musicians. Josh and Jay Clifford formed the production studio Hello Telescope in the mid-2000s; the two musicians were business partners until Kaler relocated to Nashville. There, he teamed up with Owen Biddle (Mister Barrington), a fellow Berklee alum, former member of The Roots and general wiz at all things that beep and bloop. The majority of the album was produced by Kaler and Biddle, with additional production provided by friend Jake Sinclair (Weezer, Sia, Panic at the Disco) in LA, and hometown wunderkind Wolfgang Zimmerman (Susto, Band of Horses) in Charleston, SC.