We’re huge fans of Joshua Britton’s Psalmships output (I Sleep Alone was one of my favourite albums of last year) and therefore very excited to hear that he has recently put together Old Waves Pt. 2. An assortment of B-sides, demos, out-of-print songs and live recordings, this is a collection of so-called oddities and rarities which most artists would be proud to put out as a full release. Indeed, the nature of the release actually works in it’s favour: Psalmships’s music is always honest and intense, so slightly rough recordings and live performances just makes things seem even more stark and sincere.

If you’re not familiar with past Psalmships releases, you probably want some kind of idea of what sort of music we’re talking about. Well, in my review of I Sleep Alone I wrote this (and stand by it):

[The album is] beautifully human, sounding simultaneously hushed and impassioned, delicate and raw. The negative space that intersperses each guitar note has an emotional heft, an almost tangible substance that snakes around like fog. The lyrics are superb, and the whole thing has a depth that requires repeated listens to even begin to appreciate. It’s a bona fide “slowcoustic” album, with parallels to all of the modern greats (Molina, Tillman, Jurado et al.).

That should give you some idea of the tone of the music, certainly on the gloomier side of the spectrum – but all the best songs are sad songs right? And I can’t think of many contemporary songwriters who do sad as well as Britton. ‘Demise’ takes this to its limits, with lyrics such as, “I’ve been dead since you have left, but it’s not the beautiful death, where you run out of breath and slip beneath the grass. It’s the worst kind of demise and it’s left me paralysed, though i tried i tried, to wait for it to pass”. However, hushed sadness is not Psalmship’s sole strength. His music also displays a sense of self confidence, not in an arrogant sense but a simple defiance against the things that have hurt him. See for example his repetition on ‘Apocryphal Babe’ of the line, “Who cares if I can’t get over all the things that have fucked me up?”

The release also contains several instrumental interludes, such as ‘Western Mountains’ (which is as poppy a track I’ve ever heard from the band) and ‘Ocean Floor’ which sounds like giant soft-bodied sea creatures pulsing through the murk, or the crushing water pressure thumping blood through your ears like syrup.

This is not music to get a party started (although maybe I’d go to more parties if it was), but it is the genuine artistic expression of one man (with help from lots of talented friends), an exploration of loneliness and personal anxiety which speaks to the listener in a very important way. It seems somewhat paradoxical that an album which deals heavily with sadness and loneliness can actually have the opposite effect on the listener, doing something only really good art (of any kind) can. It shows that even if you do feel sad and lonely then you’re not the only person feeling that way, beaming an all important message which says “YOU ARE NOT ALONE”.

You can buy Old Waves Pt. 2 on cassette via Hope For The Tape Deck, or as a digital download from the Psalmships or Hope For The Tape Deck Bandcamp pages.

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I Sleep Alone is a beautifully human, sounding simultaneously hushed and impassioned, delicate and raw. The negative space that intersperses each guitar note has an emotional heft, an almost tangible substance that snakes around like fog. The lyrics are superb, and the whole thing has a depth that requires repeated listens to even begin to appreciate. It’s a bona fide “slowcoustic” album, with parallels to all of the modern greats (Molina, Tillman, Jurado et al.).

This is an album that deals with isolation and sadness in a way that is admirably honest. It also has that all-important quality that offers a glimpse of something more, something better. This means that the pervading sense of melancholy and isolation never becomes overbearing, and in fact the listener can find comfort in these tales of spiritual solitude.

‘Flesh Turn’ starts with some atmospherics that wouldn’t have been out of place on Hospice, and then develops into a intimate lament, bristling with a quiet intensity (until this restraint cracks rather spectacularly). One track that came to my mind was Damien Jurado’s ‘Amateur Night’ (from Where Shall You Take Me?) which was similarly hushed and pregnant with raw emotion.

‘Heart Carries the Blame’ is slightly more upbeat, with some nice electric guitar. It also contains the stand-out line, “I’m full of shit, but I mean it”. ‘Stars Pt. 2’ is yet another slice of sublime sorrow, and serves as a tribute to Jason Molina (the second one we’ve covered recently, after Strand of Oak’s ‘JM’) and even sneaks a line of his in there. Molina himself would have been proud of album closer ‘Ships and Stones’, a real slow burner with languid electric guitars and emotive delivery. It’s a fitting end to a truly fine album.

I Sleep Alone will be released tomorrow (the 8th of July). You can pre-order it now via Big School Records in a variety of formats and assorted bundles. This is one of my favourite albums released this year, I highly recommend you get it right now.

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The band was expanded during the recording of Labor, with Dave Hadley (on pedal steel) and Andy Stack (of Wye Oak – on bass) joining regular members Bob Keal, Austin Stahl and Andy Abelow (who provided a lovely cover of ‘Two Years on Film’ on Slowcoustic’s J. Tillman tribute). These additions are particularly apparent on several tracks, including ‘The Salt’ (which you can hear in the player below) which has a bassline reminiscent of Elephant Micah (an artist the band profess a love for on their blog).

The entire album is filled with beautiful writing, poetic vignettes which compliment the style and pace of the instrumentation perfectly. I don’t have the lyrics to hand but from what I could gather by ear, there are several references to water and the sea, see for example on ‘The Salt’:

“Wandered into the water just in time to watch the salt lines climb up the wall”.

and on ‘Bloomington’

“I can’t follow you into the brackish water, where the oysters make their beds”.

The closing track, ‘Through The Blue’ is also heavily based around this theme and, again, is superbly written. My current favourite is the title track, with it’s opening of:

“Oh I swear I will find even more light in this coming year,
And the darkness will subside or bring focus unto the light.
I will build a shrine and within place my present mind,
Shaped from water, auburn earth, I will favour my lover over others.”

The song starts with a gentle guitar but swells and gains momentum as it progresses. The narrator delivers a pretty hopeful message of inspiration and promises to labour for his lover. I got some Strand of Oaks vibes, particularly from the electric guitar work later in the song. That has to be a good thing.

Every six months or so I tend to fall hard for a hushed and delicate folk album (past examples include Mountain Man’s Made The Harbor and Spirit Guides by Evening Hymns) and I think I have found my next one. The album has been on repeat all week and but I still can’t stop listening. Any fan of this type of music should be checking this out right away.

You can buy the album now on beautiful 140-gram white vinyl (in a sleeve featuring the art you can see above by artist Skye Gilkerson) or as a digital download, from the band’s Bandcamp page. As you may guess, it comes with my seal of approval.

P.S. The band are also going out on a North American tour with Peals, an experimental outfit made up of William Cashion of Future Islands and Bruce Willen of Double Dagger, who have recently released a very good album, Walking Field, on Thrill Jockey. Also check out the ingenious Furniture on their website, an interactive track comprised of 16 sound clips that the listener can play or adjust at their will. Get the tour dates here.

P.P.S. If you’re not familiar with Small Sur’s previous release, Tones, then 1. Take a good long look at yourself and 2. Get it here.

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Tracklisting:

1. From Stardust To Sentience (High Places cover) – Banjo or Freakout
2. So Prone (SLUTEVER cover) – Ghost/Light
3. I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton cover) – Howth
4. Salvador Sanchez (Sun Kil Moon cover) – Little Silver
5. Brother (Annuals cover) – Manchester Orchestra
6. Darling (Magic Man cover) – And the Giraffe
7. When You Were Mine (Prince cover) – John Heart Jackie
8. I Wanna Be Adored (Stone Roses cover) – Coma Cinema
9. Crying (Roy Orbison cover) – Austra
10. Streets of Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen cover) Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
11. Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover) – Four Tet
12. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight (R.E.M. cover) – Oxford Collapse
13. My Proud Mountains (Townes van Zandt cover) – J. Tillman
14. Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen cover) – Sarah Jaffe
15. If I Handle You With Care (Trembling Blue Stars cover) – Evening Hymns
16. Left & Leaving (The Weakerthans cover) – Beat Radio
17. I Know What I Know (Paul Simon cover) – Graham Wright
18. Some Things Last A Long Time (Daniel Johnston cover) – The Twilight Sad
19. Unicorn (Gay Against You cover) – Dananananaykroyd
20. See U Again (Miley Cyrus cover) – The Mae Shi

Click on the band name in the tracklisting to be whizzed off to a specific page for each artist. Buy some music if you like what you hear. I didn’t bother with Dolly Parton, Springsteen etc. but if you need some pointers on where to find out more about them give us a shout.

Enjoy.

The Covers Mix: Volume #2 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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EDIT – Also check out the video for Morana here.

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