In my inbox this morning I received the following message from Kevin Robinson of Viva Voce (admitedly, it was a press release, not a personal email, but I can dream). I'm going to share the full contents verbatim, but the spoilers — a full band version of Viva Voce called Blue Giant, with a live show in Portland on June 20th.

Here's the full email:

Hi Friends,

Holy cow it's been a while, hasn't it? For tax reasons, I've been keeping a healthy distance from the internet – but with legal permission, it's now time to get reacquainted. Hope you've been well….good to see you again. Hello, hello.

So, on our way to making the next Viva album we found something missing & sought to remedy it the best way we know how. While there is indeed a new Viva Voce album forthcoming,….we had to make a detour, and oh what a detour it is.

To put it simply – as Viva Voce, Anita and I had played so long as a duo that we'd forgotten the joys of a communal music experience.
We caught the bug to play with other folks during our performance of “Breathe” (by Pink Floyd) with The Shins on our last tour with them. What a blast! What had we been missing? In addition, it became increasingly clear that our old way of recording (i.e. playing it all ourselves), wasn’t enabling us to keep up with the new and prolific output. The stage was set.

When it became evident we were turning a new curve, the reach wasn’t a stretch at all. Evan Railton, of Portland’s defunct Swords Project, had been delving further into his solo endeavor, (the experimental Ovian) and was ripe for collaboration. A friend for years, all it took was an email.
Dischord Records alumni Seth Lorinczi moved to Portland from San Fran a few years back and our friendship began before the boxes were taped up. His musical pedigree is unmatched (The Quails, Crime in Choir, Golden Bears, et al.), and it took little coercing to pour the foundation.

As natural as it can be – friends playing music together.
Enter Blue Giant.

http://www.myspace.com/bluegiantland

We now have a debut show and in our traditional fashion, we aren't just having a normal affair. We plan to give the new Blue Giant EP to those who come to our show! Consider it a gesture of goodwill to a town that has consistently lent us their ear as we delve further into our musical growth. Obviously, this is huge for us. It's going to be a big night and here's hoping to see you there. Mark yr calendars:

Friday June 20th.
Blue Giant Debut @ Wonder Ballroom in pdx.
All ages! + extended beer garden for our fellow imbibers
with support: Shaky Hands, Lackthereof (d.Seim of menomena)

For those of you not in the Pacific Northwest, there will be a proper release for the EP in the short future, as well as a forthcoming Blue Giant full length – once we've found the proper partners and outlets. We're in the process of sorting that out now, & any business or press inquiries should drop a line to: amore@amorephonics.com

I'll reiterate here that we're not done with Viva by any means and that there is, in fact, a new LP on the way – this is just where our hearts, heads and fingers are at the moment.

We hope you enjoy the new inspiration.

– Kevin Robinson

How exciting is this?!!?! A full band version of Viva Voce's awesomeness. And a chance to see them live along with the Shaky Hands and Lacktherof. Plus you get a free EP. What a great Cinco de Mayo present!