The album is out later this month, and Jeremy was kind enough to speak with us in anticipation of its release. 

1. Hi Jeremy, thanks for talking with us! How’s life in North Carolina this time of year?

Hi! Life is going pretty good right now. Where I live is pretty quiet and it’s been a little cold so I’ve had some time to reflect lately.

2. As someone from the UK, whose knowledge of certain parts of the US comes almost exclusively from music and books, the album seems evocatively American. Does the landscape and its people have a conscious impact on your writing, or is it just part of who you are and therefore shines through in your songs?

That’s a great question. Actually, I’m sure somewhere subconsciously it may… But I think it’s just a part of who I am. Where and how I write changes from time to time and I’m sure that the scenery and my experiences here have some sort of impact on my writing on a deeper level.3. The album, Shadows, is a great example of giving and withholding information to create a narrative flow. Do you work out the fully fleshed-out stories in your head? Or do you leave it up to the listener to create the narratives that exist beyond the moments captured in your lyrics?

No, I don’t ever write with a concept in mind. Sometimes it comes out (lyrically) in pieces and I have to figure out what and where certain things are coming from (like therapy) or a puzzle… I like the listener to create their own narratives and take what they will from what I have written. I use a lot metaphor in my lyrics but yet I still try to express a reality (my reality) to the listener. But I write it purposely in a way that the listener can get their own deeper meaning from the songs and still relate… If that makes sense?

4. The songs are often incredibly intimate and confessional, sharing thoughts that many people (especially men in certain communities) would usually feel they had to keep to themselves. Do you find it difficult to share these songs with other people? Do you ever consider the positive, comforting impact they could have on the listener?

With this new album Shadows. Yes and yes. It was very difficult. It is the most personal record I’ve ever written. I wanted people to hear it though and I felt the listener could take something positive from all the loss or darkness that this album conveys. Shadows was recorded over two years ago and during the process my marriage of 13 years ended, my mother passed away and I have tried to move on and all of this change and the struggles are openly shared throughout this record.

5. This is your third full-length album. How do you feel your music has evolved as you’ve gotten older? And do you think it will change drastically in the future? I mean, should we expect a Father John Misty-style reinvention?

Well, I definitely believe that all the changes and different experiences (divorce, death, birth, life in general, change, kids) that come with age have shaped my sound into what it is. I’m sure my music will change a lot more because nothing stays the same. Life and music would be quite boring if it did. I am currently finishing up with another record titled Collapse and it touches on some really personal experiences and issues as well. I don’t think I will go as drastic as “Father John Misty” but who knows?6. Anna-Lynne Williams features on several of the tracks and ‘Open’ is one of her poems that you’ve adapted into a song. How did this collaboration come about? Is she someone you’ve known a long time?

I’ve been a huge fan of hers for awhile. Since her previous band Trespassers William back in the 90s. I was fortunate enough to become friends with her a few years back and after we both contributed songs to a Damien Jurado project for the blog Slowcoustic. I reached out to her to sing on my last album When Will You Go and she loved the songs and we became mutual fans of each other’s work. So I knew I wanted her to sing on Shadows too. One day I had finished up the music for a song and I had the vocal pattern down but no lyrics yet… I just happened to see Anna-Lynne had posted a new poem titled “open” and knew instantly that those were the words I had been searching for. I love that poem and it feels personal to me and I feel that I made it my own. She is a great writer.

7. Finally, could you recommend 4/5 bands or artists you’re into at the moment? They can be brand new or long dead, smash hits or garage-recorded hidden gems.

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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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The album’s other strength is in the vocals and songwriting. I believe that he is a UK native who has since relocated to California, and this is apparent in his vocals. The songs are poetic and wistful and deceptively simple, with the yearning and honesty you would expect from any songwriter worth his salt. Here I should say that the lyrics have produced another hypothesis on the album title (revealing my inner biologist), one that probably disproves my first idea. Tropism is the response of an organism to a specific stimulus, for example heliotropic plants position themselves toward/away from the sun to maximize/minimize light on their leaves. There are a few rather clear references to an anthropomorphic version this sort of idea across the album, not least on the title track where Pick sings ’She grows towards the sun’. The idea can be applied to other, less direct lyrics too, with themes of leaving/staying and so on. It’s an interesting concept and I wonder how far he intended the reference to go through the record.

Whatever was intended, the album is a superb example of how simple but carefully crafted music and strong songwriting can produce some of the most exciting and emotional music that begs to be played again. If you consider yourself a fan of any of the other Yer Bird artists (e.g. Tyler Butler, John Statz, Greater Pacific) then I’d highly recommend checking this out. I’ve embedded one of my current favourites below, so have a listen and then buy the album via Yer Bird Records.

<a href=“http://yerbirdrecords.bandcamp.com/track/lee-of-the-mountain” data-mce-href=“http://yerbirdrecords.bandcamp.com/track/lee-of-the-mountain”>Lee of the Mountain by Pickering Pick</a>

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The album is available for purchase over at Bandcamp and comes highly recommended.

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The Yer Bird site also features a few nicely shot videos of Tyler doing his thing. Check them out on the Extras section.

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