A Journey of Giraffes‘ third release on the label, Armenia brings us a 44 track of experimental brilliance. If you haven’t been listening to A Journey of Giraffes, you have been depriving yourself of the brilliant, thoughtful, and engaging work of John Lane. A more challenging listen than Hour Club and Kona, Armenia stretches boundaries and is musically more challenging in a good way of course. The physical copy comes with gorgeous artwork evoking an ancient feel.

From the press release: “Everything to be found on this album can be traced back, through each fragmentary track, to Sergei Parajanov’s “The Color of Pomegranates” (1969). In his most precious film, Parajanov provided a new/old language, a new/old series of life codes, and a dual mirror which manages to reflect an ancient imagined past and yet also distorted images of perhaps aspects of our own lives. “Armenia”, this 3rd album for Somewherecold Records by A Journey of Giraffes, is an attempt by the artist to occupy, dwell in, and extend the world of “The Color of Pomegranates”. Parajanov’s film plays with what we learn, what we anticipate, what we cling to, what we believe in so fiercely, and then everything that we have to let go of — in short, it’s not just Sayat Nova’s abstracted life represented on the screen, but everyone’s. A Journey of Giraffe’s “Armenia” – through tape manipulations, loops, metallic cracklings, drowned organs, burbled chants, and more – greets Parajanov’s playful spirit on the roof of the Sanahin Monstery with arms outstretched and eyes cast heavenward.”

If you haven’t heard any of A Journey of Giraffe’s work on the label, I highly recommend you do. Buy all three albums and then thank me later. The pre-order for Armenia starts today with two pre-order tracks available when ordered and the album comes out on February 21st.