Widowspeak – No Driver
NYC duo Widowspeak recently announced their anticipated new album Roses, due out June 5th via Captured Tracks.
Today, they’ve shared “No Driver,” a lush and widescreen pop gem complete with a blistering guitar lead.
The track “is about knowing and loving people who seem to thrive being on autopilot, at least for a while. It’s written from the perspective of trying to be supportive, and knowing it can be kind of magic when you’re in it, but also just waiting patiently for whenever they’re ready to move on from destructive behavior,” shares vocalist Molly Hamilton. “I also kind of wrote it to my younger self. I’m 1000% on the other side of my wilder years (quit drinking almost seven years ago and now have a baby) but I definitely felt aimless for a long time. I care now, and caring about things and people and having a reason… is the whole point.”
The longtime duo of Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, Roses arrives as Widowspeak’s seventh album. One of many bands to crop up in a fertile New York City music scene over 16 years ago, they started out shuffling gear between venues now-since shuttered (Glasslands, Cake Shop, 285 Kent, Death By Audio to name a few) and their practice space in Monster Island Basement (now a Trader Joe’s). Widowspeak is now a married couple, working day jobs in their own off-season. Robert is a carpenter, Molly a waitress. Roses is populated not with dramatic overtures but with the backdrop of the minutiae and repetition of daily acts. Small observations before, during, and after work: the ritual of pouring water for customers, catching a cold on your day off. Daydreaming about winning the lottery, or maybe realizing you already won.
They recorded the album last January at the Old Carpet Factory on the Greek island Hydra: a studio in an old house tucked into the village’s steep hills. It’s quiet there in winter, when the tourists have all gone home. Longtime touring members Willy Muse, John Andrews, and Noah Bond serve here as the players. Roses was then taken home and slowly, lightly tinkered with, before being deftly mixed by Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios, and mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering.
“The video riffs on ‘Jesus take the wheel’; that’s it, that’s the concept,” shares Hamilton. “We have our friend Gary Canino from Dark Tea playing a Driver who’s kind of feeling the weight of the world, and Jesus (Johnathan Chriest) takes over as he goes about his night, dropping off the Mysterious Business Lady (Moira Spahić) and then picking up a couple other passengers. Kind of a ragtag group of people, Jesus driving them home.”
Last month the band announced Roses with lead single “If You Change,” a song that captures everything that’s made the long-running group a staying force, from its breezy guitars to the impossibly rich chorus, there’s a timeless quality imbued with the twang of a Lynchian roadhouse band.
Tour Dates
06/16 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
06/18 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
06/19 – Washington DC – DC9
06/20 – Mount Solon, VA – Red Wing Roots Festival
06/22 – Raleigh, NC – Pour House
06/23 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
06/24 – Nashville, TN – Third Man Blue Room
06/26 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry
06/27 – Milwaukee, WI – The Argo
06/28 – Chicago, IL – Schubas
06/30 – Ferndale, MI – Magic Bag
07/01 – Toronto, ON – Sound Garage
07/02 – Montreal, QC – L’Esco
07/03 – Boston, MA – Arts at the Armory
07/30 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
07/31-08/02 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon (Festival)
08/04 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
08/07 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
08/08 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
08/09 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
08/11 – Santa Fe, NM – Tumbleroot Brewery
08/12 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
08/14 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge (Psych Lake City Festival)
08/15 – Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club
08/16 – Spokane, WA – The District
Nov 12th – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Nov 13th – Dublin, IE @ Workmans Club
Nov 15th – Glasgow, UK @ The Rum Shack
Nov 16th – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room)
Nov 17th – London, UK @ Scala
Nov 18th – Lille, FR @ La Bulle
Nov 19th – Paris, FR @ LePopUp!
Nov 22nd – Milan, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Nov 23rd – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Nov 24th – Munich, DE @ Milla
Nov 25th – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse
Nov 27th – Prague, CZ @ Café V Lese
Nov 29th – Warsaw, PL @ Chmury
Dec 1st – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
Dec 2nd – Hamburg, DE @ Hebebuhne
Dec 3rd – Malmö, SE @ Plan B
Dec 4th – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Dec 5th – Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7
Dec 6th – Oslo, NO @ John Dee
Dec 7th – Copenhagen, DK @ Rust
Dec 9th – Utrecht, NL @ DB’s
Dec 10th – Kortrijk, BE @ Wilde Westen
Dec 11th – Hasselt, BE @ AFF
Dec 13th – Tilburg, NL @ Hall of Fame
#widowspeaking