Sep
The Believer in Wondaland
in Music
The Believer’s 2010 Music Issue came out recently. This year’s fine Music Issue is curated by Chuck Lightning of Atlanta’s Wondaland Arts Society (comprised of phenomenally talented Janelle Monae, Lightning, Nate “Rocket” Wonder and host of other “Thrivals”).
There’s great, soulful music to be found on the enclosed CD that is painted with an optimistic, euphoric backdrop . Check out the first track Self! by Deep Cotton (consisting of Rocket Wonder and Chuck Lightning). We love the TomTom Club/Talking Heads (“Stop Making Sense” reference included) musical reverence and alternately hilarious and hitting lyrics. Great stuff.
Deep Cotton––Self!
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/01-Self.mp3|titles=01 Self!]Sep
Swimming to Simpler Shores
in Music
Breathe Owl Breathe are coming to Muddy Waters courtesy of Club Mercy on October 27th. Their song Swimming is a recent favorite in the Lefort household, with its arresting musical anodyne and sigh for simpler times. It also hearkens back to one of our favorite bands, Little Wings, and its leader, Kyle Field (you can hear their song Shredder Sequel here). So imagine our surprise to see that Little Wings will open for Breathe Owl Breathe at the Muddy. We’ll have to see it to believe that Breathe’s Micah Middaugh and Kyle Field are not the same vocalist. Regardless, we are in for a treat on October 27th. Little Wings has played some legendary shows in Santa Barbara, so don’t miss the opportunity to see both bands.
Breathe Owl Breathe’s new record, “Magic Central,” will come out on September 28 on Hometapes. In the meantime check out this East Jordan, Michigan band’s song Swimming and then a video of that song performed live.
Breathe Owl Breathe–Swimming
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/17-Swimming.mp3|titles=17 Swimming]Sep
“Together” with Hosannas–Q&A
Hosannas have just embarked on their “Gigantosaur Tour” (tour dates listed way below) and are coming to Muddy Waters in Santa Barbara next Tuesday, September 21st. We caught them at the Muddy when they last played there in May. It’s rare when a band can wow you live when you haven’t heard a single song of theirs prior to attending, but wowed we were by the intelligence, complexity and delivery of this band and their songs. We highly recommend you attend next Tuesday at the Muddy, where the up-and-coming Gardens and Villa will open. Touring this time, Hosannas will be comprised only of brothers Brandon and Richard Laws, after a recent lineup change. Coincident with the tour, on October 12th Hosannas will be releasing their new record “Together” (on their own label, Tree Farm, in partnership with HUSH), which was recorded, mixed and produced with John Askew in Portland at Scenic Burrows Studio and Type Foundry. To prepare, you can check out their great new song, When We Were Young, off the new record here.
In advance of their arrival, we caught up with Brandon Laws via email for the following interview:
The last time we saw you in Santa Barbara you were going to have your nose re-set the next day after a run-in a few nights prior in NorCal. So how have those kick-boxing lessons and target-practices worked out for you in preparation for this tour?
I still owe on those hospital bills… but at least the nose is straight now. In all seriousness we are skipping the venue where that happened.
You and your brother (and others) have been building on Hosannas for a few years. How did you get into music and start up the band? Who or what influenced you to begin? Were you guys self-taught or guided?
We didn’t have a particularly musical immediate family, I remember getting my first guitar when i was a teen and really into heavy metal. My mom is pretty conservative and I think that initially there was an aspect of rebellion to it… We have both studied music in college and on our own. Richard has been trained classically on upright bass and spent several years playing in jazz groups. I have spent many years in my bedroom making pretty weird pop music.
You grew up where, and then did you college or not?
We are actually from Northern California (Sonoma County). And I went to UCSB.
Were you a Music major at UCSB or did you just take some classes?
I was there for 3 years (graduated early) with a degree in Poli-Sci and a minor in Music.
Where did Richard college and is that where he studied classical bass and play jazz? Who are your and Richard’s jazz faves, and can you point to any jazz-influenced moments in Hosannas?
He studied privately from Mel Graves (who was then teaching at Sonoma State), and before that Richard went to Santa Rosa Community College where he took a bunch of music classes and got his AA. We also both took private lessons for several years. Richard is a more heavily into jazz than I am. I’ve always really liked the stuff by Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus and less known stuff like Penguin Cafe Orchestra [Lefort: A great British chamber ensemble well worth checking out]. Richard isn’t with me or he would list a dozen or so jazz faves. We don’t really play jazz music, but we are definitely into improvisation, and we’ll be releasing a live e.p. next spring that has some pretty free moments on it. Jazz has always appeared in our music more in the live setting than on record.
I’ve read that the band has been influenced by Kraftwerk and Beach Boys, and we hear that. But what other influences, both old and recent, have helped to make up the Hosannas sound? How would you describe that sound?
So many influences. Every album I’ve been really into has had an influence. As of late we have been listening to a lot of synth music from the Seventies like Tomita and Yellow Magic Orchestra. I’m also pretty into new electronic music like F!@#ck Buttons [Lefort: What is with all these new F-bomb entitled bands?] and Caribou. Overall there has been a lot of more traditional music mixed in too, a lot of Doo Wop and a great deal of foreign music. A lot of music from India is amazing. A couple years ago I found several boxes of cassette tapes from all over the world. We’ll usually bring 30 or so tapes along for tour and find something inspiring there.
The second part of that question is very difficult for me to answer. We have a brand new set for this tour that doesn’t share that much in common with what came before. More a cappella. But also more intense noisy stuff.
And along those lines, given your great guitar playing and sound, which players influenced that sound and are there particular current players who influence/inspire you?
Honestly my favorite guitar player is Reine Fiske from the Swedish band Dungen. If you ever get a chance to see them play you definitely should go. I really like Neil Young too, but who doesn’t?
Are you sure about this Dungen thing?
Definitely. They’re a Swedish psychadelic-pop band. In Swedish Dungen means grove or meadow. Check them out: http://www.myspace.com/dungen
We’re curious about your songwriting process. We read about how you trade off instruments sometimes to write the music (which we’ve experienced as a catalyst at times too). Does the music always come first or is it sometimes lyrics?
Either way. We try to write songs with as little ornamentation as possible; just a feeling, a melodic idea and some chords. Everything gets complex and layered later in the process.
Are the lyrics usually biographical or fiction? Where do lyrics fall in importance? Is there a particular stanza from one of your songs that you’re proud of?
We don’t really weave stories into our lyrics. Some of the songs are about events or relationships or feelings. Richard just wrote a song that I really like the lyrics to. I get this part stuck in my head all day:
“meet me somewhere in between,
dark fallen trees
and newly sprouted things,
meet me somewhere in between
the words themselves
and what they mean
won’t you meet me somewhere…”
Which of your songs is your favorite and why?
My most recent favorite is a song called “Open Your Doors” that will be on our new record. I wrote it for a friend who was really depressed and the process of writing it impacted me quite a bit. The song is about recognizing a low point in your life as just that and realizing that you can be in control of how you feel and what happens to you.
We think we know the worst experience you’ve had on the road, but is there a “best ever” experience live and how so?
There are too many amazing experiences to remember them all. I like playing festivals and all-ages shows a lot. We played MFNW last year, and that was a huge party. I also remember playing a show where we had five drummers, and that was really awesome.
We are playing a sort of secret show in a cave half a mile under the earth that I have pretty high expectations for.
We understand the band has gone through recent personnel changes, and that you and your brother will be playing as a duo on your impending tour. When was the last time you guys toured in this configuration? What will be the positives and negatives of this, if any? How do you see Hosannas’ personnel developing in the future?
We started out as just the two of us, but we hadn’t actually played any shows as a two-piece until this summer. We just played a few shows out in Idaho and Washington as a kind of warm up for the tour, and I am really stoked on it being just the two of us. I was initially worried that we wouldn’t be loud enough, but we are playing out of five amps so those fears are long gone. The biggest positive is that we can tour in a car and not have to bring our huge, gas-guzzling van. We’ll save a lot of money and it will be easier on the environment. As far as personnel in the future we have ideas but nothing specific yet. I would like to be able to change up the sound of the band quite a bit from tour to tour. As in, do a tour where you have five or six great singers and make that a focus. And then do a tour with a big horn section and strings.
Hosannas is releasing a new record in October. How, if at all, is the new record different from prior releases?
We spent a lot more time on it. It’s quite a bit darker than our previous albums. I like to think that it is better. It is recorded better. We worked with John Askew, who is a magician when it comes to making instruments sit in the mix. So we were able to get away with a lot of really dense stuff that wouldn’t have sounded as good had we recorded it ourselves.
Is there a particular theme or tact musically or lyrically in the new record?
We didn’t really have an over-arching theme musically or lyrically for the album. We did have a method for the process of writing it which was to be as open to collaboration and new directions as possible.
What excites you about the new record?
It is energetic and we had enough time and instruments at our disposal to make a whole lot of unique sounds happen.
As you mentioned, former Santa Barbaran, John Askew, recorded and produced the new record. How was that process? What did John add to the mix? Describe the recording process on the new record.
John has a great ear. And most importantly he is very easy for us to relate to musically. He was very open to experimentation and knew how to make what seemed impossible happen. We did all the initial tracking with him at Type Foundry in Portland, and then we did overdubs for a few weeks afterward at Scenic Burrows mostly by ourselves but he would drop in every other day or so and help us get sounds/provide shamanic guidance.
Hosannas has just released a new song titled “When We Were Young.” What can you tell us about this particular song and why it’s the first song released? What’s the lyrical bent?
We decided on this one for the single because it is the most immediate and also because we wanted something that was positive and energetic. It’s basically a celebration of the fleeting beauty of youth.
Can you tell us about the art of side-chaining?
I’ll do my best! I’m really stoked on this question! Side-chaining is a method of compression whereby one instrument triggers the amount of compression on another. Compression, for those who may not know, is an effect that reduces the volume of the loudest parts of a signal. Side-chaining, when used drastically, which we like to do, can make some pretty intense pumping rhythms out of instruments that don’t really have them to begin with. For example, if you side-chain a backing vocal with a snare drum track the vocal will pump in and out of volume along with the drums.
Can you point to an example of side-chaining that is discernible to the ear?
One of our next singles (not sure what order we are releasing them) is called “Multi-Chamber American Future” and that song is built around a groove where the synth bass (my foot-pedals) are side-chained to the bass drum.
What are you looking forward to/dreading during the upcoming tour? Do you have a favorite venue?
I am looking forward to Canada. We have never played there and we have about a week’s worth of shows in Ontario and Quebec. I’m not dreading anything. I’m not sure I have a favorite venue.
What is your favorite record and song of all time, and what is the best concert you have ever attended?
I have seen Dungen live twice and both times it has been incredible. I also really love seeing Akron/Family live. We’ve had the pleasure of getting to play with them a couple times this year, and they always have such good energy.
And finally, we were asked to ask how the Hosannas groupies (“Hoopies”?) are out on the road?
I don’t know if we have any groupies. But we do enjoy the baked goods that we have been given.
Circle in the Square added some great recent video of Brandon and Richard. Check it out:
Sep
Mates of State–On Top of the Covers
in Music
If you are looking for straight-ahead, unadulterated pop music in which the lyrics deftly dissect relationships with heavenly harmonies, look no further than Mates of State. They have set that sub-genre’s standards extremely high, particularly with their last two records, “Bring it Back” and “Re-Arrange Us.” This married duo (originally hailing from and hailed on in Lawrence, Kansas before relocating to San Francisco) is hyper-melodic, inventive and the perfect accompaniment to the breakup or breakdown of relationships.
They have just jumped on the covers bandwagon by recently releasing a new record entitled, “Crushes: The Covers Mix-Tape.” They cover everyone from Tom Waits to Nick Cave to Death Cab to Belle & Sebastian to Mars Volta. But perhaps the best song of the new record is the great Girls’ Laura. Check it out and then check out a couple of our favorites from their earlier records.
Mates of State–Laura
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/01-Laura.mp3|titles=01 Laura]My Only Offer illumines couples and the ease with which they can drift apart. We like the following counterpoint stanzas:
“Bought a home we bartered right.
Two kids, two car delight.
Posed pictures on the walls.
Small talk in the bedroom halls.
Can’t make it home tonight.
Go to sleep but leave the light.
I pretend to make a call.
Loose talk into bedroom stalls.
Oh, oh, oh is my only offer.
Stifle copies of myself.
Oh, oh, oh, or someone else.”
Mates of State–My Only Offer
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/03-My-Only-Offer.mp3|titles=03 My Only Offer]We love Running Out and its throw-it-all-away atmospherics, not to mention the heights of the chorus.
Mates of State–Running Out
And the lyrics of Think Long are worth reading in whole:
“On our picture shelves.
(Get on, or get out).
Statues mocking me.
How am I supposed to feel?
How am I not put at ease?
Talk yourself to sleep.
Fall into it deep.
I will wash off mine with rolling waves of worry.
It doesn’t have to feel so wrong.
Bethany you’re riding this one to its grave (the gates).
You never understood the difference between someone’s beating and refusal to trade.
Bless these tangled veins.
(Get on, or get out).
None of which will grow the same.
Now am I supposed to fake it?
Now are you so poised, at ease?
Think long, think, think long, think think.
Can you feel it surround me?
I think it’ll drown me.
And I wonder how you could say that we (you) really owe (us) anything.
Think long, think, think long, think think.”
Think long, people. No sudden moves.
Mates of State–Think Long
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/01-Think-Long.mp3|titles=01 Think Long]And finally, for you parents out there, check out Nature and the Wreck in which Kori sings over delicate piano about the couple’s baby and the aftermath of a car wreck the family survived together.
Mates of State–Nature and the Wreck
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/07-Nature-The-Wreck.mp3|titles=07 Nature & The Wreck]
Sep
Bass Is Loaded–Of Montreal at Bat
in Music
It’s hard to believe that the “band” Of Montreal (out of Athens, GA, natch) has been around for over a decade and has just released its 14th record, “False Priest,” which is possibly its best. Leader Kevin Barnes has taken the band all over the proverbial map stylistically over the years, travelling all the way from lo-fi indie pop miniaturist to glam-funk maximalist, and all points in between. Of Montreal has their positives (phenomenal pop sensibilities, musicianship and delivery) and negatives (obscure, decadent, over-sexed, and debased lyrics–when will they put out a foreign language version so we aren’t distracted from the worthy music??).
Unlike on prior efforts , the songs on False Priest are fully realized, focused and produced (thanks we suspect to co-producer Jon Brian). And Barnes’ lyrics are less bizarre and instead intermittently soulful and comedic. And as usual with this band, the music is stunningly good. On False Priest they audaciously adapt a mix of Prince, 70s soul and prog, and with Janelle Monae and Solange Knowles added to the mix you’ve got a musical force to be reckoned with.
Sometimes with this band it’s a single instrument that completely demands your attention. We hope you’ve got a sub-woofer or some good headphones to check out the stellar bass line in the sweet indie-pop of Coquet, Coquette (not to mention the beguiling drums and guitar). Load up the bottom big-time. Should get you movin’ and out of any foggish funk. Dang that’s good.
Of Montreal–Coquet, Coquette
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Coquet_Coquette.mp3|titles=Coquet_Coquette]
Sep
The Real Country, No. 6
in Music
Willie Nelson (along with the other “Outlaws”) re-introduced the world to real country music when it was needed in the mid-70s with his record, “Red Headed Stranger” and it’s haunting hit song, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. We first saw Willie (and Family) at the Santa Barbara County Bowl touring behind Red Headed Stranger soon after its release. We were instant converts and have remained fans of virtually everything he’s done over all the subsequent years.
Willie has come to define real country music for many, but has also lent a soulful hand to other genres and artists over the years. Many know and love his songs, unique vocals and nylon-guitar playing, and the backing of his great band and their bountiful shows.
Debate is inevitable when one tries to select just one song of Willie’s to represent his Real Country gestalt. You undoubtedly have alternative picks. We decided to go back to the core and eschew the big band or stringed recordings of his great songs. We instead chose the original two-track demo (from 1962) of the song Undo the Right, which was written by Nelson and the seminal Hank Cochran. With just Willie on vocals and guitar, and Jimmy Day on stunning, atmospheric pedal steel guitar, Willie soulfully conveys the loss of “the right” with his understated, yet perfect, delivery.
Willie Nelson–Undo the Right
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/03-Undo-The-Right.mp3|titles=03 Undo The Right]
Sep
We Haven’t Been Able to Hold Steady…Until Now
in Music
“Heaven is whenever/We can get together/Lock your bedroom door/And listen to your records”
Until now we haven’t been able to hold on to The Hold Steady. No matter how much we like reading Craig Finn’s lyrics, when combined with a musical meld of Thin Lizzy, Meatloaf, The Replacements and Bruce Springsteen, and delivered in Finn’s monotonous monotone, we have heretofore repeatedly hit “skip” on the band’s offerings. In short, there’s been far too much bar and not enough band in their bar-band motif for us.
But whether we have devolved or the band has evolved, with their latest record, “Heaven is Whenever,” we are suddenly able to grasp and hold on to the Hold Steady rocksteady. The new record’s variety, meatier arrangements, dynamics and added vocal flourishes have made believers out of us. As a result, we can finally hear the songs and stories of normal, yearning American youth questing for release out in that great American everywhere where kids are Born to Run, but too often too deferential and despondent in that Darkness on the Edge of Town.
Lyrically, Finn is as strong as ever:
“I know bodies of water freeze over/I’m from a place with lots of lakes/But sometimes they got soft in the center/And the center is a dangerous place.”
“You can’t get every girl/You’ll get the ones you love the best/You won’t get every girl/You’ll love the ones you get the best.”
The Hold Steady finally show us on the new record that they don’t just revere classic rock; they can make it too. “Heaven is Whenever” sports more polish and reach without eschewing their trademark exuberance and angst. There’s more subtlety and wisdom here as the band masterfully matures. Yes, there are still bar-band trappings, but space, layers and interest have been added to the musical mix.
Check out We Can Get Together, a comparatively delicate rocker with perfectly fragile backing vocals. And Finn’s lyrical bent resonates when he sings of hanging out with an old friend, sitting in her bedroom, and listening to songs about heaven, including one by great, underrated and somewhat obscure Brit-band, Heavenly. Hallelujah, Craig. Oh, and thanks for the reminder: we were saved once or twice by Makes No Sense at All.
We like this fine stanza from this track:
“And heaven is the whole of the heart. Paradise is by the dashboard light.
Utopia’s a band. They sang ‘Love Is the Answer.’ I think they’re probably right.
Let it shine down on us all. Let it warm us from within.”
And check out The Weekenders, which deftly builds instead of detonating all at once, and employs bigger choruses and harmonies throughout. We like these wise stanzas from this song:
“So if it has to be a secret then I guess that I can deal with it
God only knows it’s not always a positive thing
To see a few seconds into the future
And if you swear to keep it decent
Then yeah I’ll come and see you
But it’s not gonna be like in romantic comedies
In the end I bet no one learns a lesson”
And now we really regret missing their much-lauded recent show at Soho. We won’t get fooled again, and make that same mistake.
The Hold Steady–We Can Get Together
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/06-We-Can-Get-Together1.mp3|titles=06 We Can Get Together]
The Hold Steady–The Weekenders
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/03-The-Weekenders.mp3|titles=03 The Weekenders]
And though it’s older, check out the video below. Anybody that holds up Joe Strummer is all right by us.
Sep
From Real Country to Cosmic Love, Remixed
in Music
Florence and the Machine have been getting raves for years, and particularly for their live shows. Led by Florence Welch and sounding like a mix of Kate Bush, Sinead O’Connor, and Natalie Merchant, with a touch of harpy Joanna Newsom and a dollop of cosmic Stevie Nicks, their debut record, “Lungs,” was released in the summer of 2009 to critical acclaim. With great songs and deliveries on Dog Days Are Over, Hurricane Drunk, Drumming Song, and Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) amongst others, we concurred with the experts.
Now comes a recent remix of their great song, Cosmic Love, as re-imagined by Short Club. While we liked the harp and wrenching dramatics of the original (see the videos way below), this mix kicks in after its acoustic opening. Earthly or higher love? You make the call.
Florence and the Machine–Cosmic Love (Short Club remix)
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Cosmic_Love_Short_Club_Remix.mp3|titles=Cosmic_Love_Short_Club_Remix]
And here are a couple of alternative takes:
And in case you missed the VMAs a couple nights ago, here’s Florence flooring:
Sep
The Real Country, No. 5
Iris Dement came down from the clouds in 1992 with her great debut record, Infamous Angel, and rained hard on us for quite a few years. In 1993, she released her best record to date, My Life. Iris was the 14th child born (in Arkansas) to the Dement family. The family moved to California for a while before Iris moved to Kansas City and then to Nashville. Iris hides nothing in her songs, and her vocals channel a deeper source.
It’s hard to pick just one song amongst a handful of Dement’s real country gems, but we have to go with No Time to Cry.
“My father died a year ago today,
the rooster started crowing when they carried Dad away
There beside my mother, in the living room, I stood
with my brothers and my sisters knowing Dad was gone for good
Well, I stayed at home just long enough to lay him in the ground
and then I caught a plane to do a show up north in Detroit town
because I’m older now and I’ve got no time to cry
I’ve got no time to look back, I’ve got no time to see
the pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me
and if the feeling starts to coming, I’ve learned to stop ’em fast
`cause I don’t know, if I let them go, they might not wanna pass
And there’s just so many people trying to get me on the phone
and there’s bills to pay, and songs to play, and a house to make a home
I guess I’m older now and I’ve got no time to cry
I can still remember when I was a girl
but so many things have changed so much here in my world
I remember sitting on the front porch when an ambulance went by
and just listening to those sirens I would breakdown and cry
But now I’m walking and I’m talking doing just what I’m supposed to do
working overtime to make sure that I don’t come unglued
I guess I’m older now and I’ve got no time to cry
I’ve got no time to look back, I’ve got no time to see
the pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me
and if the feeling starts to coming, I’ve learned to stop ’em fast
`cause I don’t know, if I let them go, they might not wanna pass
And there’s just so many people trying to get me on the phone
and there’s bills to pay, and songs to play, and a house to make a home
I guess I’m older now and I’ve got no time to cry
Now I sit down on the sofa and I watch the evening news
there’s a half a dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose
The baby that was missing was found in a ditch today
and there’s bombs a-flying and people dying not so far away
I’ll take a beer from the ‘fridgerator and go sit out in the yard
and with a cold one in my hand I’m gonna bite down and swallow hard
because I’m older now and I’ve got no time to cry”
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP
Iris Dement–No Time to Cry
European Community
S-Double Corporation has two registrations which have issued covering the use of the S/DOUBLE (No. 005004312) and “S/Cube” (No. 005005021) trademarks in the European Community countries. Please see the attached registrations.
Japan
S-Double Corporation has three registrations which have issued in Japan covering the use of the S/DOUBLE (Nos. 4991693 for the sporting goods and toys, and another registration for clothing that should arrive imminently) and the “S/Cube” logo design (No. 4991692) for the sporting goods and toys category and for the clothing category. Please see the attached registrations.
Additional International Registration
On June 8, 2007 we filed for trademark protection under the Madrid Protocol for the S/DOUBLE (receiving No. 930011) and S/Cube logo design (receiving No. 927769) trademarks for the sporting goods and toys class and the clothing class for the following countries: Australia, China, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Morocco and the Russia Federation. We have recently received the attached Notifications of Protection from Australia and await further such Notifications or correspondence from the other listed countries. Also attached are status pages with respect to the foregoing printed out this morning off of the WIPO web site.
Please let me know if you need anything else or have any questions.
Thanks,
Sep
Mavis and Tweedy–Together, A Graceful Raid
in Music
A marriage made in heaven. Rarely has a phrase been so apt as in this instance.
Jeff Tweedy of Wilco produced and wrote two songs for gospel/soul legend Mavis Staples’ impending record, You Are Not Alone. The record will be released on September 14th and features a couple of songs (including the telling title song) penned by Tweedy and recorded at Wilco’s Loft recording studios.
The Staples Singers were one of our favorite acts while growing up, and Mavis is carrying on the legacy of that justly-loved group. It turns out Tweedy is a fan as well and jumped at the chance to work with Mavis. The mutual respect between Mavis and Tweedy can be heard throughout You Are Not Alone. Staples has said the session at the Loft was one of the most spiritual sessions she’s had.
Tweedy’s production defers to Mavis’s voice as the centerpiece of the record, but the mix of members of Mavis’s band, some Wilco members (Tweedy included), and others provides the perfect musical accompaniment.
(photo: Spencer Tweedy)
Check out the title track below. We love these lines from the song: “A broken home, a broken heart/isolated and afraid/open up, this is a raid/I wanna get it through to you/You’re not alone.” It’s not hard to believe that Mavis spilled some tears during the recording, as she has said.
Mavis Staples–You Are Not Alone
[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/You_Are_Not_Alone.mp3|titles=You_Are_Not_Alone]
As an added bonus, here’s a great alternative take solo by Tweedy.
And here is Mavis and Tweedy together on the title track.
And finally, here are the Dynamic Duo discussing the project.
