Patrick Watson Announces New Album 'Better In The Shade', Shares First Single
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Nicola D’Orta
Patrick Watson has announced his new album.
'Better In The Shade' will arrive on April 22 via Secret City Records and marks the Canadian songwriter's seventh studio LP, following up a string of singles and his 2019 full-length, 'Wave'. Discussing the record, Watson said:
"[It] is about negotiating a world where you don’t know what’s real anymore. I really spent a lot of time reading to improve my lyrics for this record. I was very inspired by Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson, The Waves by Virginia Woolf and Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin. The lyrics are a collection of little thoughts that were pacing in my head. We worked hard on rebuilding the tones of our arrangements and we brought a bigger electronic component to the music.
"With the addition of modular synths, we were able to find a warmer and more touching approach to the electronics, that feel as acoustic as the rest of the instruments and move like liquid. Basically, I went back to school for the last two years to be able to bring something new haha. Andrew Barr from the Barr Brothers joined us on drums for this record, it’s a pleasure to play music with such a great musician."
As a preview, Watson has unveiled the brooding first single, Height Of The Feeling, which offers intimate vocal lines and soft harmonies. He revealed that it "is about using intimacy as a compass when you feel out of your skin. I sometimes just have trouble without affection to ground me. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, it just is. I was lucky to be able to co-write this with Ariel Engle from La Force. She’s so much fun to work with. We just did loads of improv takes on one mic and giggled together the whole time."
Watson has a series of US, Canadian and European dates in the diary this spring and summer. Head here for details.
'Better In The Shade' tracklist:
1. Better in the Shade
2. Height of the Feeling
3. Ode to Vivian
4. Little Moments
5. Blue
6. La La La La La
7. Star
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