“But that dead body next to me spoke clear and metaphor-free.”
– Phil Elverum
Almost exactly one year since the announcement of A Crow Looked At Me (which, by the way, ended up topping our 2017 year-end list), Phil Elverum has re-emerged with the unveiling of another new Mount Eerie album, Now Only. Written shortly after the release of A Crow Looked At Me, the new work sees Elverum once again using unembellished lyrics to ruminate on his life after the death of his wife, artist and musician Geneviève Castrée. The themes are deepened this time, however, with Elverum exploring how increased success and remembrance intertwine with being a single parent in the process of mourning and healing.
“Consumed with the day to day of raising his daughter, Elverum felt his musical self was so distant that it seemed fictional,” according to the press release. “Stepping into the role of Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie held the promise of positive empathy and praise, but also the difficulty of inhabiting the intense grief that produced the music. These moments, both public and domestic, are chronicled in these songs. They are songs of remembrance, and songs about the idea of remembrance, about living on the cusp of the past and present and reluctantly witnessing a beloved person’s history take shape.”
Now Only is out March 16 on P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. Listen to all 11 minutes of the musically expansive yet lyrically intimate song “Distortion” below, and pre-order the album here.
Now Only tracklist:
01. Tintin In Tibet
02. Distortion
03. Now Only
04. Earth
05. Two Paintings by Nikolai Astrup
06. Crow pt. 2
More about: Mount Eerie, The Microphones
