April 21, 2021
After more than a decade at Matador Records, Philadelphia's folk rock standout Kurt Vile is starting a new chapter with Verve Records, the home of legends from the The Velvet Underground to Frank Zappa.
Vile, 41, announced his signing with Verve on Instagram this week, promising a boatload of new material to work with as he moves toward his follow-up to 2018's "Bottle It In."
"It's been a crazy f***in year and I've got hundreds of songs and ideas in the can, on paper and in tape recorders all strewn about the 'kv zone,'" Vile wrote. "Nuggets recorded before-and-after pandemic times ... in studios and from home ... music past, present and, yup, we're still rolling. It's gonna be heavy, it's gonna be beautiful ... and it's gonna be out there."
Verve Records is an interesting choice for Vile. Founded by Norman Granz in 1956, the label holds the world's largest jazz catalogue, with recordings from Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Stan Getz and Lester Young. The label is now owned by Universal Records Group.
In a statement of its own, Verve Records signaled that Vile will release his next album in summer 2022.
