"I'm drawing on the urgency of the moment," reflects Grant-Lee Phillips. "The things that eat away in the late hours" That urgency inspired the headlong rush of Widdershins available February 23 via Yep Roc in which Grant-Lee Phillips invests the insight, nuance, and wit that has distinguished his songcraft over the past three decades in a riveting dissection of today's fraught social landscape. Beneath the moment's tumultuous veneer, Phillips uncovers resonances spanning centuries 'patterns echoing from the present day to the distant past. Its twelve tracks were cut largely live in the studio with the sharp trio of Phillips (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jerry Roe (drums), and Lex Price (bass) serving as messengers. Says Phillips, 'This moment is explosive, volatile, and heightened. It's important to me that the music reflect that... By turns sardonic, provocative, and illuminating, Widdershins (produced by Phillips and mixed by Tucker Martine) delivers its poetic truths through Phillips's peerless melodic sensibilities, carefully balancing intensity and vulnerability. A now seasoned songwriter and performer, with more than two decades' experience first as front man of the acclaimed Grant Lee Buffalo then as an accomplished solo artist, Phillips awakens comfort and hope by shining light into darker corners. 'I hope to express my faith in people, my faith in the good ideas we're capable of, and that regardless of what opposition we face, the fact that we can surmount these things,' he concludes. 'We can stare them down, laugh at them, belittle them, and drive the darkness back into a hole.' -
I'm drawing from the urgency of the moment," says acclaimed Nashville-based singer-songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips of Widdershins, his ninth solo album. Inspired by "the things that eat away in the late hours," Phillips invests the insight, nuance and wit in a riveting dissection of today's fraught social landscape. Recorded over four days at Sound Emporium in Nashville, the 12-track set was produced by Phillips (guitar, vocals, keyboards) and cut largely live in the studio as a trio with Jerry Roe (drums) and Lex Price (bass). Mixed by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists) and engineered by Mike Stankiewicz, the album delivers it's poetic truths in Phillips' peerless melodic sensibilities, relayed via vocal performances that balance intensity and vulnerability. Lead single "Totally You Gunslinger" for instance is a backhanded salute with a mix that combines Roy Orbison with The Smiths. "I made a commitment to myself not to sink into despair," explains Phillips, "I'm tracing a longer narrative here. We've been through some of this before - not just our country, but the civilization as a whole." Phillips sees in Widdershins a connection to his earliest work with Grant Lee Buffalo. "That was also a time of intense social anxiety. The Gulf War, the LA riots - everything became cranked up. Then a few years later there was the earthquake we lived through, which also made for a time of uneasiness. I was in a heightened state when I wrote that stuff - as I am now.
Bertus Musikvertrieb Bertus Musikvertrieb Akeleibaan 59, 2908 KA Capelle aan den Ijssel, NL service@bertus.com
Technical specifications
Language
Features
Target audience
Adult
Song titles
Disc 1:
1 Walk In Circles
2 Unruly Mobs
3 King Of Catastrophes
4 Something'S Gotta' Give
5 Scared Stiff
6 Miss Betsy
7 The Wilderness
8 Another, Another, Then Boom
9 Totally You Gunslinger
10 History Has Their Number
11 Great Acceleration
12 Liberation
Rock&Pop
99.477
