… the result is Williamson’s lovely Time Ain’t Accidental, an album that balances the lilting heartbreak of classic country with the fresh, modern sound of pop. The songs are restless and yearning, powered by the ache for change and movement. They are gorgeously simple sounding but subtly sophisticated, showcasing Williamson’s clear, pure, vibrato laced voice.
Category: The AD Interview
RF Shannon :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
RF Shannon’s new album Red Swan in Palmetto, out May 26th on Keeled Scales, finds the band exploring swampier parts of their native Texas. Gone is the wide open, desert-tinged sound of past albums; what has emerged is knottier and more enigmatic. Songwriter Shane Renfro talks to us about the long process of recording the new album and how he uses songwriting to explore and get closer to his natural surroundings.
Triptides :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Glen Brigman, the lead singer and multi-instrumentalist of the Southern California band Triptides, has been dabbling in variations of adjacent genres throughout the band’s nine album tenure. The band, and Brigman, continue to gracefully evolve from their bleached surf rock roots, through their wandering psychedelia breadth. Now, fresh off the heels of last year’s melodic, Heartbreakers-esque release So Many Days, Brigman draws from our collective past, both literally and sonically, to craft Triptide’s most recent LP, Starlight.
Catching Up With Lael Neale
When I’m listening to Lael Neale’s new album Star Eater’s Delight , it makes me think of the duality of “resistance.” There’s resistance in the sense of restraint: the songs are skeletal, […]
Joe Pernice :: On 25 Years of Overcome by Happiness
Originally released by Sub Pop in 1998, The Pernice Brothers’ Overcome By Happiness was a leap of faith. Joe Pernice joins us to discuss how the record came together on the occasion of New West’s expansive 25 anniversary edition and what promoted him to chase the chamber pop sounds he heard in his head.
Symphony Orchestra (Max Turnbull of Badge Époque Ensemble & Michael Rault) :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Together as Symphony Music, Max Turnbull of Badge Époque Ensemble and Michael Rault have created Radiant Music, a zone where freak-friendly psychedelia, jazz, funk, and soul exist in a state of constant crossover. The Toronto twosome joined us to the radiance they found together and the influence of “The World Band in the World,” 10cc.
Cian Nugent :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
On She Brings Me Back To the Land of the Living, Irish guitarist and songwriter Cian Nugent explores gentle revelations through impressionistic folk rock. Effortlessly blending mood, groove, and traditionally-based song craft, the album was inspired by a return home to care for his ailing mother. Nugent joined us to discuss how she influenced the album, psychedelic production tricks, and share a play list of music that inspired its knotty, soulful tone.
Catching Up with SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch & Carter Logan)
Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan’s SQÜRL has been around for 14 years, but Silver Haze marks the duo’s long-player debut. They join us to discuss working with producer Randall Dunn, guests Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anika, and Marc Ribot, and the influence of poet John Ashbery.
Kahil El’Zabar: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Kahil El’Zabar has worked as a bandleader and collaborated with Pharaoh Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Dizzy Gillespie. With his latest album, Spirit Gatherer: A Tribute to Don Cherry, El’Zabar is once again joined by the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, with vocalist Dwight Trible of the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, and multi-instrumentalist and son of the album’s namesake, David Ornette Cherry. Celebrating jazz luminary Don Cherry, the album is beautiful in its spatial depth, brevity, and intimacy, three attributes clearly set upon with masterful intention.
Catching Up With Sleaford Mods
Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn join Aquarium Drunkard to discuss UK Grim, their latest collection of discontented electronic post punk anti-anthems. They share thoughts on working with Perry Farrell, online discourse, and their unlikely pop audience.
Lonnie Holley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
On Lonnie Holley’s Oh Me Oh My, the visionary bluesman unearths surreal experiences in hallucinatory, stream of consciousness poetry, backed by feverish, impressionistic jazz, funk and gospel music. Jacknife Lee, the acclaimed Irish producer, assembled the musical backing and incorporated contributions from guest artists, giving Holley’s music a shimmering dreamlike depth. A diverse group of collaborators, including Moor Mother, Michael Stipe, Justin Vernon, Sharon van Etten and Rokia Koné added their voices to these revelatory songs. Today, he joins us to discuss.
Purling Hiss :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Mike Polizze’s acoustic album Long Lost Solace Find was one of 2020’s prettiest and most laid back folk rock recordings. But with Purling Hiss’ Drag On Girard, he resumed his assault on the ampflier with a blistered headlong brilliance. He joins us to discuss.
Doug Paisley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
We caught up with Doug Paisley on a foggy January night at his home in Toronto. His new album Say What You Like, out March 17th on Outside Music, was recorded over the past few years, with selections pulled from his huge trove of songs in progress. “For me it’s all about recording these little ideas and then they just keep coming back,” Paisley said. “And there’s a question in them and then the answer is somewhere way down the road.”
Hermanos Gutiérrez :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Brothers Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez grew up in two words, splitting time between their father’s native Switzerland and Ecuador, where their mother’s family hailed from. But on El Bueno Y El Malo, the siblings evoke the sound of some sparse and sun-bleached desert. Hermanos Gutiérrez joined us to discuss their origins, filmic inspirations, how the desert influences their recordings, and share a new video for “Hermosa Drive.”
Dougie Poole :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Dougie Poole’s got a clear-eyed view of our modern moment and a country songwriter’s ability to sum it up in a perfect line. The songs on his 2020 album The Freelancer’s Blues concerned themselves with the ennui and indignity of urban 21st century work, life, and work-life – dead-end gig economy jobs, cross-country moves from one coast to another, and the yearning for a “Natural Touch” while cycling through futile first dates. Poole’s new album, The Rainbow Wheel Of Death, finds him doomscrolling even further, and just as before, he finds “troubles stacked like dishes / in a crooked pile.”