Boy, it must be tiring being a renowned multi-instrumentalist, composer, and visual artist like the legendary Tara Jane O’Neil. It’s like: even when you’re just “taking it easy,” hanging out with your friends, and spontaneously making warm, laid-back, bucolic jams — it turns out you’re actually hard-at-work playing guitar, bass, keyboards, and percussion on your friggin’ 800th poised, purposeful, rustically understated solo album…At least, that seems to be what happened when TJO was invited out to Wilco’s Loft in Chicago by her pal Mark Greenberg to record “mostly live” with an ad hoc band comprised of James Elkington, Gerald Dowd, Nick Macri, and Greenberg himself before returning home to L.A. to polish things off in her home studio with Devin Hoff, Wilder Zoby, Walt McClements and string supervisor Jim James.
But, well…no rest for the obsessed, I guess. And besides: the results of those seemingly innocuous, loose, casual jam sessions — a poised and thoughtful new self-titled album — are coming out April 21 on the Gnomonsong label, and the world-at-large will soon be a cooler and more interesting place because of it, right?
Meanwhile, the first small dollop from this new 11-track honey dripper is being slowly drizzled down upon us via the sunny-yet-contamplative video for the breezy, harmony-rich album track “Blow” — which TMT has the honor of premiering for you today. The clip, which was (duh) helmed by O’Neil and her cohorts, follows the casual exploits of a small band of spontaneous amateur-choreographers as they explore, interpret, and ultimately seem to dissolve into the west coast’s dusty, late-afternoon sunlight. You can watch the clip down below, and pre-order the entire album now on just about any format your heart could desire.
And before you even ask: no, that doesn’t mean that TJO can take a REAL vacation now…unless you consider a spring tour around the US (beginning with a record release party in L.A. on April 19 and culminating with a stop at this year’s HUICHICA Festival) to be a “vacation” (which, come to think of it, a restless creative experimenter like TJO just might).
Tara Jane O’Neil tracklisting:
01. Flutter
02. Blow
03. Sand
04. Joshua
05. Kelley
06. Laugh
07. Cali
08. Purple
09. Pink
10. Great
11. Metta
TJO on t.o.u.r:
04.19.17 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater (record release show)#
04.20.17 - San Diego, CA - the Hideout#
04.21.17 - Joshua Tree, CA - Taylor Junction#
04.22.17 - Ojai, CA - Greater Goods#
04.24.17 - San Francisco, CA - the Chapel#
04.26.17 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios#
04.27.17 - Seattle, WA - Gallery 1412#
05.09.17 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool^
05.10.17 - Allston, MA Great Scott*
05.11.17 - Providence, RI Columbus Theatre*
05.12.17 - Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall*
05.13.17 - Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery*
05.14.17 - Philadelphia, PA Boot & Saddle*
06.10.17 - Sonoma, CA - HUICHICA Festival @ Gundlach Winery
#Califone, Rachel Blumberg
*Mirah
^Mike Bones
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