The Game of Monogamy

Late last fall, Tim Kasher went north for the winter after nearly a year of touring in support of Cursive's 2009 release, Mama, I'm Swollen. Leaving sunny Los Angeles, it was in the frosty valley of Whitefish, MT – nestled next to Big Mountain and Glacier National Park – that he set about writing and recording his debut solo album, The Game Of Monogamy. Recorded during January 2010 at SnowGhost Music as well as his Whitefish rental home, The Game Of Monogamy marks the first time Kasher has written, recorded, and produced an album under his own name

The album's classical opening, as well as its closing, begin with an uneasy refrain of plucked notes on a harp, setting the tone for The Game Of Monogamy. The theatrical arrangements and lush instrumentation of the album's moody orchestral pop evoke a 1950s, pre-sexual revolution atmosphere, and set the stage for a dilemma that remains thoroughly modern. The protagonist's arc in The Game of Monogamy spans the wide range of distinctly human emotions tangled up around relationships in a starched shirt society. Call it the score for our collective sexual plight: expression routinely becomes repression in the name of romance.

A tribute to his artistic drive and creative freedom, The Game Of Monogamy neither borrows from nor begs comparison to his two bands, Cursive and The Good Life, and all are grounded in the singular voice and perspective of his writing. Kasher enlisted Patrick Newbery (trumpet/keys for Cursive; also of Lacona and Head of Femur) to help with the arrangements and the production, and to play on the record. Minus The Bear's Erin Tate and Cursive's Matt Maginn also play some drums and bass, respectively. Members of the Glacier National Symphony were recruited for the classical instrument parts, which include strings, harp, oboe, flute, and trombone.

Release Date: October 5th, 2010

TRACK LIST
01. Monogamy Overture
02. A Grown Man
03. I'm Afraid I'm Gonna Die Here
04. Strays
05. Cold Love
06. Surprise, Surprise
07. There Must Be Something I've Lost
08. Bad, Bad Dreams
09. No Fireworks
10. The Prodigal Husband
11. Monogamy