Fernando has just completed work on his 8th studio album and it will featur… Read Full Bio ↴Fernando has just completed work on his 8th studio album and it will feature such notables as Peter Buck (REM) Scott McCaughey (REM, Minus 5), Mike Coykendall (M. Ward, She and Him) and many more! The album is as yet untitled and is slated for release in late 2013.

"True Instigator", Fernando's seventh full-length, and first to be
released completely digital, was recorded at Type Foundry in Portland,
Oregon by Adam Selzer (Norfolk and Western, M. Ward). It was mixed by
Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Sleater-Kinney, Stephan Malkmus), Luther Russell
(Richmond Fontaine), Mike Coykendall (M. Ward), and Adam Selzer; the first
two mixing two songs each, and Coykendall and Selzer jointly mixing the
rest of the album.

Featuring a who's who of Northwest musicians, as always, Fernando brought
in Scott McPherson (Beck, M. Ward, Elliott Smith, Bright Eyes, Neill Finn)
on drums, Dan Eccles (Richmond Fontaine) on electric guitar, Joe Chuisano
on bass, backing vocals, farfisa organ, and glockenspiel. As well as Lewi
Longmire on B-3 orgna, Mike Coykendall on piano, acoustic guitar, and
baritone guitar, Paul Brainard (Richmond Fontaine) on trumpet, and Joe
"Sly Pig" Cunningham (The Decemberists, Bobby Bare Jr.) played saxophone
on one track.

The album is a return to form for Fernando, following 2006's heavily
pop-leaning "Enter To Exit" (In Music We Trust) and 2001's stark, acoustic
focus on "Dreams of the Sun and Sky" (Domingo Records). "True Instigator"
offers up straight-ahead rock, alt. country, starkness, and haunting
melodies, bridging the gap between his 1999's "Old Man Motel" (Domingo
Records), arguably Fernando's most straight-ahead rock album to date,
"Dreams of the Sun and Sky", and "Enter To Exit".

Critically lauded, Fernando was named by Magnet Magazine as one of the ten
"Artists To Watch in 2006", proclaiming, "'Enter to Exit' spins like an
especially fine George Harrison record from the late 70s... Long a
musicians' and critics' favorite, Viciconte deserves a wider audience, and
'Enter to Exit' is a fine introduction for the uninitiated". While
Billboard commented, "Portland is home to one of the most intriguing
sounds of the past 20 years of new rock... Upon first listen to 'Enter to
Exit', the brilliant new album from Portland songwriter Fernando
Viciconte, you may feel you’ve uncovered some super secret studio session
between Elliott Smith and Jon Brion."

Other critics shared in the praise, with MSNBC also applauding Fernando as
an artist you need to know, writing, "(Fernando’s) just released the
incredibly accomplished can’t-get-the-songs-out-of-your-head Beatles-esque
pop album, 'Enter to Exit'", and No Depression said Fernando is "utterly
beautiful and convincing. "

Not to be outdone, Paste Magazine wrote of Fernando, "...'Enter to Exit'
nails it, smoothly alternating between infectiously bouncy pop and
wretchedly depressing, country-inflected rock. Supporting every song is a
solid base of classic rock ... The result hooks into you with an
aggressive urgency that’s hard to ignore, and a familiarity so profound it
seems almost like Fernando isn’t just playing music – he’s uncovering
something that’s already in you."