Chris Owens released three albums with his band Girls, then a solo one in 2013, which was not received with the same enthusiasm than his previous efforts. Personally, I liked ‘Lysandre’, but it was not as good as Girls’ 2011 ‘Father, Son, Holy Ghost’. He just announced the release of his second solo album, ‘A New Testament’ via Turnstile on September 29th (September 30th, North America), and this is what Chris wrote about it on his website:
‘Every new album is a new testament.
It’s a testament to honest, earnest, simple songwriting—”three chords and the truth”, songs inspired by the fundamentals of American music—Gospel, Country, R&B, picking the songs for this record was exciting enough for me, because they’re some of the ones that speak to me the most, of my memories, real life experiences, my battles, my victories. But hearing the record actually take form and come to life was even more exciting than I imagined. The new ground we worked towards—playing with Ed Efira on pedal steel for the first time, all of it was an amazing experience.
This album is nothing if not a testament to the power of music, and to the musicians that made it—John Anderson, Darren Weiss, Makeda—who all helped make Father Son Holy Ghost what it is, Danny Eisenberg—who was introduced to me during the sessions for Broken Dreams Club and played again on Father Son Holy Ghost, this is now our third record together, and I think that’s what shows.
It’s also my third record with Doug Boehm, who’s always made me feel I had the help I needed when I needed it, and the support I needed when I felt strongly about sticking to an idea.
I could go on and on about all these people—David Sutton, who I met recording Lysandre, just watching him play is such a pleasure. It’s the intensity with which all these musicians approach the songs that makes me so excited and proud to play with them again and again.
And the excitement, the joy, the sincerity, the craftsmanship, it’s all captured on this record. A new testament.’
According to Pitchfork, Owens has many songs in stock (about 100) that were never recorded, and some will see the light with this new album, even old ones like ‘Overcoming Me’ which was written in January 2008. This new album will bring back the past, as well as some musicians (keyboardist Danny Eisenberg, drummer Darren Weiss, and guitarist John Anderson) who were already playing on Girls’ ‘Father, Son, Holy Ghost’.
According to his description, this album seems to be quite country-Americana-gospel oriented, and he elaborated a bit more on Pitchfork:
‘It’s an American thing. When radio first popped up, all those early American genres—country, R&B, gospel—were separate from one another, and people like the Everly Brothers and Elvis rolled it up into rock’n’roll. But those are the roots of Americana.’
He has also released this video for ‘Nothing More Than Everything To Me’, a song from his upcoming album, and this couldn’t more illustrate what he just said. There’s definitively a strong country rockabilly flavor to that tune, even though Chris’ fragile vocals bring us right back to the delicate pop sound of Girls’ crafted melodies. But the song is a happy bouncy pop tune, and a perfect fit for a cute kid love story. So I now know where all these pictures of Chris Owens in full western outfit come from, and the video was very probably filmed at the Satellite in Silverlake.
The Pitchfork interview is interesting, you’ll learn that Chris is happy, he found love, and has quitted drugs: ‘Maybe I’m getting too cocky, but I really feel like I’ve beat the goddamn thing’. Plus he does not want to be your favorite tortured artist anymore: ‘but I’m sorry, I’m not your Jesus. Don’t hand me that cross. I refuse to play along’, good for him! Still, the title of the album ‘A new testament’ is a biblical reference again!
Here is the tracklist of the album:
1. My Troubled Heart
2. Nothing More Than Everything To Me
3. It Comes Back To You
4. Stephen
5. Oh My Love
6. Nobody’s Business
7. A Heart Akin The Wind
8. Key To My Heart
9. Over And Above Myself
10. Never Wanna See That Look Again
11. Overcoming Me
12. I Just Can’t Live Without You (But I’m Still Alive)
And here are his tour dates:
6 Aug Los Angeles, CA – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
7 Aug Santa Ana, CA – The Constellation Room
9 Aug San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Festival
23 Sep New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
24 Sep Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
26 Sep Washington, DC – Black Cat
27 Sep Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live Downstairs
28 Sep Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
30 Sep Montreal, QC – Petit Campus
1 Oct Toronto, ON – The Mod Club
3 Oct Chicago, IL – Park West
4 Oct St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
7 Oct Seattle, WA – Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room
8 Oct Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
9 Oct Portland, OR – Star Theater
11 Oct San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
19 Nov Islington Assembly Hall, London
