Jena Malone and Lem Jay's "The Shoe" EP will be released exclusively on iTunes March 8th. The duo is currently offering a free download of the track "Raccoon," featured on the six-song release, available now at There Was An Old Woman Records.
"The Shoe" will also kick off the EP release with a performance at Olive Hotel in Los Angeles on Monday, March 7th, additional show dates will be announced.
What is "The Shoe"? First and foremost, "The Shoe" is the improvisational music project between actress Jena Malone (Into the Wild, The Messenger, Sucker Punch) and musician Lem Jay Ignacio. Secondly, "The Shoe" is actually a traveling musical contraption; a "one woman instrument...built out of an old steamer truck" designed to house an assortment of musical devices: a drum machine, looper, keyboards and sound effect boxes.
In early 2008, the duo, also known as "The Shoe," recorded a series of songs before embarking on a string of impromptu live shows around Los Angeles. Busking style performances at makeshift, unconventional venues, including underneath a pair of billboards in a park by the L.A. river, at a closed store front on the corner of Lucille and Hoover, Coco's Mini-Mart parking lot in Lincoln Heights, and a building rooftop on Wilshire Blvd. at night fall, among other places. The live "shows," promoted mostly by word of mouth, were sometimes accompanied by an email that included a scanned copy of a hand drawn treasure map, taking eager music goers on a hunt that ultimately led them to Jena, Lem Jay, The Shoe and a generator.
"The Shoe: At Lem Jay's Garage" EP features five original tracks written and produced by the duo, and includes a cover of Neil Young's "Stupid Girl." A bonus video was
recently created and directed by abstract puppeteer Yelena Zhelezov and is included on the bundled version available exclusively on iTunes.
Jena is currently starring in director Zack Snyder's (300, Watchmen) new epic action fantasy Sucker Punch, slated to hit theaters March 25th. She recently starred in several music videos including UK electro-pop act Dirty Vegas' "Electric Love," Toronto rock trio Danko Jones' "I Think Bad Thoughts" and psychedelic singer/songwriter Harper Simon's "Berkeley Girl." She has previously released two independent albums, "Blood Stains for Sailors" and "Emotional Nutrition," under the moniker "Jena Malone and Her Blood Stains."
Lem Jay Ignacio has performed and recorded with an eclectic group of artists including Zooey Deschanel, Moby, Cypress Hill, Kelly Osbourne, Adam Levine, Camp Freddy, and Seth MacFarlane. Last year he co-produced the song "The Man with the Big Sombrero" for Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-winning film Inglourious Basterds and in 2006 he was the musical director and keyboardist for a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Donovan Leitch and Bijou Phillips.
"THE SHOE" DIGITAL EP TRACKLISTING:
Lover's Dust
Nymph, Nymph
Shaking Hands
Stupid Girl (Neil Young)
Raccoon
Landslide Freestyle
Bonus Video: Raccoon
