Chris Eckman is one of those songwriters that we love here at AUK Towers. He’s proved it over the years as the songwriter of the Seattle rock-folk band The Walkabouts, as well as across a six-album solo career. His songs have been recorded by Townes Van Zandt, Steve Wynn, Willard Grant Conspiracy among others. Now he’s back from his home in Slovenia with a new album “The Land We Knew the Best” and with it the lead single ‘Town Lights Fade’ which you can listen to below.
“We recorded the track live in a one room studio. No isolation. The vocals coming through a PA speaker. We were trying to conjure a mood, an atmosphere. The song is about holding on to the things that really matter“ Eckman says.
For the recording sessions, which took place in and around Ljubljana, Eckman assembled a group of trusted collaborators. The rhythm section of Žiga Golob (contrabass) and BlaŽ Celarec (drums) have recorded and toured with him for years. Most of the other musicians are friends from the local jazz and experimental music scenes including Ana Kravanja from the acclaimed Slovenian avant-garde folk trio Širom. Ex-Londoner and Ljubljana resident Alastair McNeill (Róisín Murphy, Kreda) was behind the board for the previous album “Where the Spirit Rests” (AUK review here) as well as adding guitars, keyboards and percussion to the mix.
Eckman recalls one session in particular “We were set up like Neil Young and Crazy Horse in the studio, all in the same room, no isolation, with the vocals booming through a PA. Most everything on the album is live with the sounds all bleeding together. I’ve recorded that way a lot in the past decade. You have to throw away perfection and commit to the moment.”
The album is scheduled for release on January 24th on LP, CD and digital via Glitterhouse Records and will be followed by extensive touring throughout Europe at as yet unannounced locations. Suffice to say when we know – you’ll know!
“The Land We Knew the Best” Tracklist:
1. Genevieve
2. Town Lights Fade
3. Running Hot
4. Buttercup
5. Laments
6. Haunted Nights
7. The Cranes
8. Last Train Home
