The Lumineers' Jeremiah Fraites Announces Debut Solo LP 'Piano Piano', Shares Two New Songs
Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Danny Clinch
Jeremiah Fraites has announced his debut solo album.
'Piano Piano' will arrive on January 22 via through Dualtone Records in North America and Mercury KX for the rest of the world, marking the Lumineers co-founder, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist's first collection of solo material.
Co-produced and engineered by David Baron, the full-length was written over the best part of a decade and is comprised of intimate, piano-based instrumental compositions that reflect on moments from Fraites' Denver home. It also features collaborators such as the Lumineers' violinist Lauren Jacobson, cellists Rubin Kodheli and Alex Waterman, and Macedonia's 40-piece FAME'S Orchestra.
As a preview, two singles Tokyo and Maggie have been unveiled. The former is a delicate, string-assisted portrait of the titular city, while the latter is a stirring dedication to his wife's dog who died during the LP's recording sessions. Fraites said:
"Tokyo is one of the oldest songs on the record. I believe I wrote it about seven years ago. I went back and forth on whether to record this song on a grand piano or my custom felted piano nicknamed 'Firewood' – I ultimately landed on using the softer, more distinct Firewood because I felt that captured the soul of the tune better. This was a song I was guilty of over-thinking and confessing to my wife that I 'just don’t think it was ready' for the album. I suppose finding that fine balance between overthinking and not thinking at all is the key when in the studio. Currently this is my absolute favourite song on the album."
On the latter, he continued: "I am most proud of Maggie because of how difficult it was to record and to get 'right' - I probably said out loud on five separate occasions that I was not going to use it and delete it from the record as it continually seemed to fight me. It was also titled something completely different, but while finishing the mix at my home in Denver, my wife's beloved dog Maggie passed away far in Italy and the name just fell into my lap. Adding the drums at the 11th hour of recording (per my wife's insistence) was the lynchpin for finishing this song. Not only could I no longer imagine the song without drums, but no longer imagine the album without this song."
The Lumineers, meanwhile, put out their aptly titled third record, 'III', in 2019.
'Piano Piano' tracklist:
1. Departure
2. Chilly
3. Tokyo
4. Maggie
5. Nearsighted
6. Dreams
7. Possessed
8. An Air That Kills
9. Simplest of Matters
10. Pyromaniac
11. Arrival
12. Lullaby (Bonus Track - Vinyl Only)
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