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Salem | |
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| Origin | Traverse City, Michigan, U.S. |
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| Years active | 2006–2012, 2016, 2020–present |
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| Website | www |
Salem (sometimes stylized as S4LEM or SALEM) is an American electronic music band from Traverse City, Michigan. It was founded by Heather Marlatt, Jack Donoghue and John Holland. [3] Salem is considered one of the pioneers of the witch house genre.
Salem released its debut album King Night in 2010. In 2020, the group released a mixtape, Stay Down, followed by their second album, Fires in Heaven , both without Marlatt, [4] who is disputing her ouster. [5]
While John Holland was living in Chicago, he met Jack Donoghue. Salem officially formed in 2006 after he simultaneously struck up a friendship with Donoghue and his friend since his time in school, Heather Marlatt, ended up moving in with him. [6] The trio began working on music in Holland's home studio. The band's first two releases are the EP's Yes I Smoke Crack and Water, both released in 2008. [7]
Salem released the debut studio album, King Night , in 2010. [8] It was included on the year-end lists by AllMusic, [9] DIY , [10] NME , [11] The Quietus , [12] and Stereogum . [13] The band's infamous March 18, 2010, performance at South by Southwest at the Fader Fort received widespread negative reviews from music critics and saw the band booed off the stage. [14] [15] In 2020, Steven Hyden wrote for Uproxx that it was "one of the worst and least competent musical performances by a supposedly professional act to happen in the early 21st century." [16]
Salem had been inactive since 2012, with no new releases since their 2011 EP I'm Still in the Night . In 2016, a new Salem album was announced by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, who confirmed the news on his Instagram account. [17] In that year, Salem officially returned with a remix of Tillmans' song "Make It Up as You Go Along", which was included on his Device Control EP. [18] [19] [20] However, the band was not fully revived until May 2020 where Salem premiered a new mixtape titled Stay Down, which was presented on NTS Radio. [21] This reboot of the band happened without member Heather Marlatt, who gave a negative public comment about the situation stating she was kicked out. [5]
Salem released their first single in nearly a decade "Starfall" on September 18, 2020, via Mad Decent's Decent Distribution. The music video follows the band's trip with veteran storm trackers through Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dallas as well as through Texas during tornado season. It was directed by Donoghue and Holland along Tommy Malekoff. [22] In a press release, it was stated that the song was "a signal of additional work to come". [23] Their second album Fires in Heaven , which comes ten years after their debut, was released on October 30, 2020. [24] Along its pre-order on October 16, a new single called "Red River" was unveiled. [25] [4]
On November 10, 2022, Salem performed a surprise DJ set for the opening party of clothing brand Supreme's flagship store in Chicago, Illinois, marking the band's first performance in over 10 years. On July 28, 2023, Salem performed their first solo live set in 12 years. The show took place at El Dorado Bumper Cars in Coney Island, New York City, tickets for which sold out within minutes after going live online.[ citation needed ]
According to Heather Phares of AllMusic, Salem's sound blends ethereal electronica and slow Southern hip hop rhythms, and is noted for pioneering the music subgenre known as witch house. [26]
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