Last month, The Children’s Hour were pleased to announce Going Home, their unlikely and long journeyed sophomore album, set to arrive February 23rd. Today, the band is sharing the album’s second single, the jubilant “Dance With Me”. Listen here!

Discussing the single, David Pajo offers, "“Dance With Me" might well be my favorite song on Going Home. It documents a sweet moment I think we all can relate with.” Bar called the tune “A dance song for reluctant wallflowers.”

Going Home shows the evolution of The Children’s Hour, infusing elements of psychedelia and The Velvets, while the focus remains on Josephine’s soulful voice, and vivid lyricism. The intricate guitar arrangements of Andy Bar, ornamented by Josephine’s melodic lead guitar lines, are both exalted by David’s ecstatic percussion and bass lines. Recorded originally by Paul Oldham, the album was mixed and mastered at Nashville's Bomb Shelter studios.

The Children’s Hour formed some time around the turn of the millennium in Chicago, after opera school dropout Josephine Foster and Andy Bar, a student at the Art Institute of Chicago, collaborated briefly in a rock trio called Golden Egg. When the Egg broke up, they carried on, naming their duo after a Longfellow poem. Thus christened, they released an EP, garnering local acclaim and the notice of legendary UK DJ, John Peel, who featured a track on his legendary BBC Radio One show.

Around the time of their debut full-length, 2003's SOS, JFK, The Children’s Hour were invited on to open a tour for ZWAN, a supergroup including David Pajo (Stereolab, Slint) on guitar. Playing in massive concert halls, the duo’s sparse guitar lines and gentle melodies cried out for a backbeat, so Pajo soon filled in on drums, performing double duty for the remainder of the tour. (You can read a letter from him about it here.) Their musical connection was immediate; songs both new and old came together so nicely that when the tour ended, they all headed for Shelbyville, Kentucky to capture their happy sound. Engineered by Paul Oldham, an album's-worth of tunes were laid out in a single day! Then each went their separate ways, unsure of when they would reconvene, to put paid to the album. As it turned out, that future date was just a lot further down the road than they had anticipated. Nearly 20 years later, Paul came across the tapes buried in his archives, allowing us the chance to experience one more golden Children's Hour album. We're Going Home at last!
 

The Children’s Hour Tour Dates:
23rd March – Nashville, TN @ Soft Junk
25th March – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
26th March – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout