Album number 3 for LA environmental scientist indie folk singer.
So many artists have experienced major upheavals in recent years – many linked to Covid. For Watt, she had to cope with the challenges of losing a loved one, saw the end of a relationship, worked out of the music industry causing her to fly halfway around the world, returned home and packed her bags to move from Portland to Los Angeles. Yet through all this change she wrote music. This album is a testament to all that incident-filled time.
Within a week of arriving in LA – Watt managed to meet singer-songwriter Luke Temple – who also records under the moniker Art Feynman and is in the band Here We Go Magic. The fact the two met at a nude figure drawing night that Temple hosted weekly only adds further intrigue to their musical meeting.
Watt managed to get some sterling support and musical backup, in the form of drummer Kosta Galanopolous; guitarist Will Graefe (Maya Hawke, Okkervil River) and mastering by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Sufjan Stevens). This experience Watt found “a total dream and absolute joy”.
Watt’s music is in the field of ‘indie folk’, but that really doesn’t do justice to the lovely feel of this really enjoyable album. Opener and lead single ‘Anywhere With You’, begins with some intriguing feedback sounds – before Watt’s rich and impactful vocals come in under a strong acoustic arrangement. Watt’s aim for this album was to shake off the inevitable 60’s singer-songwriter comparisons she’d been given before – and this edgy but warm sound perfectly encapsulates this new direction for her.
‘Rachel’ – after a deliberate false start – is another dreamy song, which draws on her scientific job and is inspired by Rachel Carson, a writer and biologist – “I imagined us walking together on the beach and her teaching me about the animals of the intertidal”. There’s some wonderful jazzy, Steely Dan-style guitar work here – and it’s an intriguing song.
‘Tear Apart’ has a slightly stronger beat to it – and Watt’s lovely vocals and Temple’s audacious production give this track a distinctive and strong feel. ‘Sandhill Crane’ is another moody, ethereal track with Watt’s vocals and subtle acoustic strumming building a song where she aligns the Muslim call to prayer to the sight of sandhill cranes soaring over the plains of central Florida. Intriguing to say the least.
The tempo changes slightly on ‘Tried To Say’ – with a definite indie feel to it, as Watt sings about the thoughts following a break up on a long flight. This is a great counter balance to the more folky feel to the majority of the album.
This is a strong and fascinating album – showing Watt to be far more than the initial Joni Mitchell inevitable comparisons – she’s gathered some mighty talented musicians around her, who have given her the opportunity to create a really distinctive and impactful album which cries out for replay after replay.
