Artist of the Week: Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Unknown Mortal Orchestra is an American/Kiwi rock band formed in 2010. The band is composed of singer/songwriter Ruban Nielson, bassist Jake Portrait, and drummer Riley Geare.

The band released their self-titled debut in 2011 on Fat Possum Records. The album was quickly met with critical acclaim. Pitchfork gave the album an 8.1/10, describing the album as such: “an expert use of space rare for such a lo-fi record, UMO manages a unique immersive and psychedelic quality without relying on the usual array of effects.”

In 2012 the band won the Taite Music Prize in New Zealand for the album. Also, although nominated, the band did not win Best Alternative Album at the 47th annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, but Nielson did win Best Male Artist.

In 2012, the band announced that they had signed to Jagjaguwar and were in the process of working on their second full-length album. The album was released on February 5, 2013 and was titled II. 

The album has received widespread critical acclaim. In 2013 it won Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards. The band has capitalized on the success of this album and embarked on a world tour. The tour began in Australia, then went to New Zealand, and then Europe. After that, they toured North America with previous Hawk Eye Artist of the Week Foxygen as their opener.

On February 5, 2015, the band announced that they are planning to release their third studio album Multi-Love on May 26.