Folks! Here’s some fuckin’ capital-N news: Calvin Johnson’s New Solo Album Was Produced By A Carnie. (!) It’s a pairing you can’t deny is pretty inspired, what with ol’ CJ being a kind of carnival barker for Pac-NW indie pop for goin’ on 35 years, and…
Uh, wait, sorry…it looks like Calvin Johnson’s aforementioned new solo album was produced by Paaaaatrick Carney, singer-songwriter Michelle Branch’s new husband, who is evidently also something of a prominent personage in blues-rock circles.
…You know what? That actually makes a lot more sense.
Anyway: Calvin’s new album is called A Wonderful Beast, and it’s coming out October 12 on Calvin’s own K Records. Below all this verbiage, you can listen to an advance track, “Kiss Me Sweetly,” which features Branch on backing vocals.
Carney (who, in case the subtlety a few paragraphs up was too great for you, is the drummer of the Black Keys — a.k.a. the BIGGEST blues-rock band of the first half of the 2010s) has a few notable previous credits in the producer’s chair: He worked on the best Tennis full-length and, ahem, Michelle Branch’s comeback album, among others.
What does Calvin x Carney sound like? Well, according to a press release, the album was written as a full-on collaboration between the pair, a melding of their eccentric minds, and it includes such chords as “A, C, and Dm.” And it closes with a song called “(I’ve Still Got) Sand in My Shoes.” The band also states a band is being assembled to tour the album with Calvin.
Check out “Kiss Me Sweetly” down below and stay glued to K Records to snag the full album when it’s available.
A Wonderful Beast tracklisting:
01. Kiss Me Sweetly
02. A Wonderful Beast
03. Like You Do
04. Wherefore Art Thou
05. Are We Ready
06. Bubbles, Clouds and Rainbows
07. Blues Come Runnin’
08. Why You Crying
09. Another Teardrop Falls
10. When the Weekend Comes Around
11. (I’ve Still Got) Sand in My Shoes