Pitchfork

Macha frontman Josh McKay has a new side project. Recorded under the guise of Seaworthy, McKay's new album, titled The Ride, will see release through Jetset Records on January 22nd. Seaworthy represents a distinct departure from Macha's eastern-tinged, multi-instrumental melting pot, instead revealing McKay's more introspective side and instilling in the listener a "heroin-laced calm," according to the label. The Ride will feature a guest appearance by Japanese musician Haco of After Dinner and the members of Hoahio, and was recorded by several different people. Among them:

*Andy LeMaster (Macha, Bright Eyes, Now It's Overhead)
*Chris Bishop (Summer Hymns, Mendoza Line, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't)
*Andy Baker (Mercury Program, Japancakes, Shannon Wright)
*Ex-Sugar bassist David Barbe (Uncle Tupelo, Kelly Hogan, Son Volt)
*Jay Nackashi (Empire State)
*Brian Causey (Crooked Fingers, Causey Way, Shannon Wright)

For their part, Macha originated in the fertile indie rock soil of Athens, Georgia, incorporating a variety of unusual traditional eastern and western instruments within a recognizable indie rock framework. The band released its self-titled debut in 1997, and its follow-up, See It Another Way, lifted its leg and claimed the coveted alpha position on the hotly contended college radio charts in 1999. Macha Loved Bedhead, a collaboration between the two titular bands, was released a year later.