1. Anne Sexton's Glasses - 15:50
2. Heathen Spiritual - 8:06
3. Christmas Eve at the Wizard’s House - 11:23

Credits
The players are:
Joey Reyes - cello
Julia Austin - clarinet
Lacey Lewis - marimba and vibraphone
Peggy Ghorbani - marimba and inspiration
Victor Bracht - french horn
Claire Hamilton - bass
Travis Weller - violin
Millie Twine - bass clarinet
Brent Baldwin - pedal steel, piano, choral direction
Lyman Hardy - marimba, vibraphone, spirit
Jonathan Horne - guitar
Jeff Piwonka - bass (bowed)
and Thor Harris

Unwound Sound Singers:
Sarah Adler, Brent Baldwin, Kathryn Hatch, Zoe Littleton, Melissa Nguyen Lype, Elizabeth McQueen, Joy Scott, Christina Tannert, & Thor

Craig Ross recorded, edited and mixed it
John Moloney assisted recording
Cover photo by Allison Durst
Session photos by Geoff Duncan and Allison Durst
Layout by Ryan Hover
Mastered by Tyler Watkins

Like a scene from a dream, Thor Harris stood upon a crowded stage, 13 players deep: tapping, plucking, bowing, blowing lyric-less love songs to a grand auditorium of 325 shining red seats – without a soul sitting in any of them. This was the creation of Heathen Spirituals, the fifth recorded work by Harris’ adventurous instrumental ensemble Thor & Friends and the first that accurately resembles the skyward repetition of the Austin-based group’s live performances.  

It’s a century-old concept: cutting a record in an empty music hall. Masterminded by intrepid producer and lifelong Harris collaborator Craig Ross (Patty Griffin, Spoon), Thor & Friends’ roster of musically accomplished misfits spent two days wired up, playing free-flowing meditational pieces on unamplified orchestral instruments inside Jessen Auditorium, a stunning Art Deco relic from the early days of the University of Texas’ Butler School of Music – the esteemed institution that Harris dropped out from decades ago. 

A craftsman, artistically and otherwise, Thor Harris is master plumber, carpenter, and woodworker. In musical contexts, his name is often followed by the five words: “known for his work with,” having been a member of avant rock godheads SWANS and high-minded indie favorites Shearwater, while also factoring into important recordings by Bill Callahan, Devendra Banhart, and Shahzad Ismaily. In many circles, Harris is equally well-known for being an openhearted mental health advocate with a devilish sense of humor and a penchant for entertaining social commentary (Harris’ “How to Punch a Nazi” instructional video got him famously banned from Twitter in 2017). 

Heathen Spirituals, arriving May 16th, 2025, on Joyful Noise Recordings, contains three original pieces with a 35-minute runtime. The rhythmic repetition of opening seance “Anne Sexton’s Glasses” evokes a cognitive crescendo, while the spellbinding “Christmas Eve at the Wizard’s House” evokes a sense of weightlessness, sucking the listener up into the firmament then floating them back down. The crashing, choir-backed “Heathen Spiritual,” meanwhile, stirs a gorgeous requiem for a dying planet. In glorious fidelity, the sessions capture the instinctual purity of Thor & Friends’ live performances, which thrive on skyward repetition.