Do you get sad vibes from this project? Blemishes is the most exuberantly happy song I’ve heard in years
I am extremely biased because I love everything Mike Kinsella puts out but...this is uhhhh...incredible? Yeah. Great album!
This is great, didn’t overplay the singles so it all sounds great in context, a lot of variety but it’s still very cohesive
From the e-mail list: “Hi there! Nate here. I wanted to drop everyone a line about the new project that my cousin Mike and I are working on. It’s a very special one to me. I’ll start here: Mike is my big cousin. Many people have big cousins; there’s something about them that makes them inherently cool. Big cousins are always a step ahead. You’re into Super Mario Bros but they’ve already beat Metroid. You just heard Nirvana, and they’re deep into Fugazi. You’re playing to ten of your friends at a basement show, and they’re on tour playing the wildest (and decades later, genre-defining) music you’ve ever even heard. Big cousins are a BIG deal. The creative boundary pushing that Mike and his big brother Tim made during my most formative music-listening years had an enormous impact on me. I credit them with how my brain is wired musically. Mike and I tried a couple of times to make music as a pair years ago, but the circumstances and parameters never quite yielded the results that I knew we were capable of until recently. And I’m honestly glad it took this long. Coming off of the weight of expectation that American Football carries, making the LIES album with Mike has truly been a liberating experience for the both of us. Working on this album, each song opened a new door with a room on the other side. And every room floated with potential. We walked in, looked around, and spent a year decorating each one until they all felt just right. Maybe there’s one that will feel comfortable for you to be in. Please stay as long as you like.”
A few of these intros meander a little too aimlessly, but overall this is beautiful stuff. Blemishes is still the high point and I’ve been loving it for almost a year now, but unsurprisingly this feels like fleshed out poppier Owen. The last two tracks in particular would be right at home on an Owen album
Wasn’t expecting to like this so much. Kinsella has one of those voices that I always think I’ve grown weary of and then comes an album like this and I just feel like an idiot.
Mike Kinsella may be the only artist where even if I don't hear a single note of a new song, I pre-order the album because I just know I'm going to at least love it.
This is getting not nearly the attention it should be (on here, yes, but more so in music publications and such). I don't think releasing the same day as boygenius helped but this will definitely end the year as an underrated gem of an album, IMHO.
Agreed, though even on Chorus boygenius stole the show for the weekend, there are two pages here and one page in that City and Colour thread for example ;d albeit, I think the exact date doesn't matter in the end - we still talk about last week's Fall Out Boy with over 100 pages of posts (though lots of offtopic bullshit too haha)