MOJO’s proud to present two new songs by one of our favourite contemporary artists, Steve Gunn. Other You and Reflection are the first tracks to surface from the singer/songwriter and guitarist’s sixth studio solo album, Other You, due to be released August 27 on Matador Records.
Gunn recorded the album in Los Angeles in late 2020 and early 2021, with production by Rob Schnapf, who’s previously worked with Beck, Elliott Smith and Cass McCombs, and Justin Tripp.
“I came up with this title when we were recording vocals and Rob was very into harmonies,” Gunn says. “There was a third part and I just couldn’t find the note. I couldn’t vocalize it. He went in and took my voice and put it into his computer program, then he could playback and “sing” the note with my voice using the computer. And he said, ‘Sing to the other you.’ So I was singing along to myself singing a note I couldn’t sing."
Watch the videos for Other You and Reflections here:
Gunn currently lives in Brooklyn, but came to prominence as part of a Philadelphia music scene that included The War On Drugs and Kurt Vile: Gunn, in fact, did a stint in Vile’s backing band, The Violators. Other You is the sixth studio album he’s made by himself, the follow-up to 2019’s The Unseen In Between. But his discography and deep and rich, including collaborations with Hiss Golden Messenger, The Black Twig Pickers, Mike Cooper, Ryley Walker and Kurt Vile. Soundkeeper, Gunn’s fourth instrumental duo album with drummer John Truscinski, came out in 2020.
Noted novelist Rick Moody has written an introduction to Other You. “Above all, the voice and lyrics take a new front seat on Other You, right where we can hear them,” Moody observes. “Gunn has allowed himself to be more apparent, like the Michael Stipe who suddenly appeared out of the murk on Document. There’s a person inhabiting these songs, a subjectivity, not just one of the best guitarists in contemporary music, not just a reporter with a winsome observational genius, here, a singer-songwriter, with a first-person voice, even if the songs seem rarely or only glancingly confessional. Now we have beautiful shimmering melodies, great melodies, and also that aching voice, at the tenor edge, and harmonies, singing up front.”
You can also see Steve Gunn on tour, tickets available from http://www.steve-gunn.com
US TOUR DATES
Thu December 2 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri December 3 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
Sat December 4 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Sun December 5 - Lakeside, MI @ Lakeside Inn
Tue December 7 - Nashville, TN @ Third Man
Wed December 8 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Thu December 9 - Charlotte, NC @ Recover Brands
Fri December 10 - Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern
Sat December 11 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
Sun December 12 - Baltimore, MD @ Creative Alliance
Tue December 14 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Wed December 15 - Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
Thu December 16 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby's
Fri December 17 - Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
Sat December 18 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Fri December 3 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
Thu July 22 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House^
Fri July 23 - Livingston Manor, NY @ Catskill Brewery^
Sat July 24 - Burlington, VT @ Backside 405^
Sun July 25 - Peaks Island, ME @ Lion's Club^
Mon July 26 - Keene, NH @ Nova Arts^
Tue July 27 - Newport, RI @ Folk On^
Thu July 29 - New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine^
w/ Jeff Parker
w/ William Tyler
Buy the latest copy of MOJO here - https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/mojo-333-august-2021