Kevin Knight is a musician from Virginia who has played with the likes of Wild Nothing, HAT, Nevin Kight and our friends Nice Legs. Knight also records solo under his own name, putting his multi-instrumental talents to use to utilise guitars, bass, keyboard, organ, piano, auxiliary percussion, harmonium, clarinet, recorder, jaw harp and field recordings to create in what’s an unsurprisingly rich and varied sound.
Out via Furious Hooves, Knight’s latest record With Hat feels like the full realization of this vivid style. The first of his DIY discography to fully embrace a more polished aesthetic, Knight calls on F.M Turner (electric Bass/bowed upright bass), Caleb Flood (drums/percussion) Hamilton Belk (pedal steel guitar) and Kaily M. Schenker (cello) create something of a hybrid style—the triangulated point between folk, indie rock and psychedelic dream pop.
The album opens with ‘Come Back’, itself an encapsulation of Kevin Knight’s range and ambition. The track flickers into life with gentle guitar, though the true energy of the song dawns gradually, eventually coalescing into a swift rhythm. Only, Knight is not satisfied with a single build, the track breaking down into a heavy rock squall before emerging from square one, this time stronger and brighter than before.
“Come back to me,
I’ll wait for you”
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Leaning decisively into indie rock territory, ‘Said & Done’ deals with shedding worries and moving on, its relaxed energy offering a sense of carefree abandon, while ‘Little Human (Going on the Day)’ pivots into moody folk rock, an ominous thunderhead of a song that calls to mind Campdogzz’s In Rounds. But storms never last, and ‘Worm Smell (Petrichor)’ emerges from the deluge into the damp warmth of a new day. The song is something of an anthem for life after darkness, where everyday sights and smell are made new by the sheer novelty of the earth’s continued spin.
“After the rains made
A beach of suburban pavements
They breeched our brain waves
And left a song of dreamsIt makes a worm smell”
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‘Sucker in the Shade’ has a sultry, psychedelic air, while tracks such as ‘Darkness’ and ‘Learning’ take a different route, their more traditional folk styles slow-moving and smouldering with emotion, the blues of the lyrics matched only by the marigolden warmth of the music. Instrumental track ‘Quiet Dog’ is folk distilled further, pushing into American primitive territory with its evocative guitar work, though is soon followed by the mellow tones of ‘Choose Love’. The song has a crepuscular air, conjuring the low-lit, near-dusk space where it is possible to make peace with your faults and longings.
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If the previous track finds the sun going down, then closer ‘Lonesome Howl’, exists some hours later, a nighttime confession and message of gratitude. “Give now praise to ancient beasts ,” Knights sings, “of love and light and rest and peace / Finding food out in the sand / Now you eat right from my hand / You’ll still hear me in the pack / Now i know there’s no going back / To my lonesome howl.”
With Hat is out now via Furious Hooves and you can grab it from Bandcamp, complete, as ever, with a tape release.
