Departing from some of the usual fare found here on Mainly Tuning Out, I wanted to spend some time talking about Kurt Vile's new extended play. I'm relatively new to the Kurt Vile scene having gotten on the train with his album Bottle It In and a few live projects performed on NPR's Tiny Desk series. At first, I was a little put-off by his loose performance approach and his general musical aesthetics, but something about it kept drawing me back into the mix. Now I'm a pretty big fan.
I'm currently working through Neil Young's discography (which has been a bit of a journey, holy smokes does he have a lot of albums), and there's something very similar to Kurt's offerings, yet, it still sounds wholly like Kurt's own music. I'm sure I'm not the first person to draw those two together in such a way, but there's a beautiful honesty to their musical and lyrical approach that is magnetic, even if off-kilter now and again.
Vile digitally dropped Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep) on October 2nd, 2020, and it features five songs with a total runtime of ~22 minutes. The biggest surprise on this album is the duet on the song "How Lucky" that features the late John Prine (RIP), which was a delightful and perfect track. The album was released on Matador Records, and physical copies are available for pre-order now, slated to arrive around mid-January, 2021.
What about the music? Well, that's the meat of this place of business, isn't it? Super short story: It's great. Fear not, we'll be going track by track like we always do here, but honestly "It's great," is the moral of the story and you should go listen to this EP right now. I'll be here when you get back.
The album starts with the song "Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness." It sounds like classic Kurt Vile, picked rock/country chords, backed by some piano that interplay with the guitar in a cheery way. Vile sings in his best early Neil Young inspired voice bouncing between contrary ideas, "You come home late, and you come home early. You come home big when you're feeling small. You come home straight and you come home curly, sometimes you just don't come at all." It moves right into the chorus, "What in the world has come over you? What in heaven's name have you done? You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness, you're out there running just to be on the run." The chorus and the next verse are bridged by a delightful mandolin lick. The lyrics continue painting a relationship that's on the rocks in an odd calm self-reflective moment, "How can a love that'll last forever get left so far behind?" What a great way to set the mood for the album, reflecting on life, with some classic Americana music backing these moments of awareness.
Next up is the song "Gone Girl". This track opens with a country vibe with that classic one-two, one-two bass line holding the beat, and finger-picked guitars. The solo after the chorus sounds like it's being played on a resonator guitar which I thoroughly enjoy, but it could also be an electric guitar through some effect-pedals. Lyrically, this song is about lost love, "she's deliciously tall, sort of long girl. She's delightfully small, sort of song girl... That's nothing compared to the fact that she's a gone girl, gone like a knock on the door, gone with yesterday and before, gone with the wind forevermore." A pleasant-sounding song, which is a great juxtaposition to the lyrics.
The third track is my least favorite song on this EP, and it happens to be the longest one at six minutes and thirty-four seconds. It feels like a leftover track from Bottle It In, especially in the basic song structure and vocal performance. It's still a good song though. It's a dreamy sounding song, very well layered. One of the verses resonated with me as far as the topic matter of the song, " I like the feeling of being sentimental, and also a little mental. I don't mind crying, but I prefer them be tears of joy over rage. Anything over rage, anything over mind, and everything over age, I'm over that." If you enjoyed Bottle It In, especially the single "Bassackwards," You'll enjoy this track.
Next is "How Lucky." John Prine's performance was an enrapturing treat on this song. Originally by John Prine, it feels like the torch being handed off from one generation to another, though I'm sure that's not the intent. It feels natural, and the two vocalists mix together will. How lucky can one man get? For Kurt, quite, and honestly, if we all think about how amazing it is that we managed to get a chance at life in this world, I think we are all pretty lucky. This track is a gem. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that I wish it was longer than three minutes and twenty-three seconds.
The track finishes up with a song titled "Pearl." The chord that is picked that starts off this song is a great choice, and Vile's vocals are hit with a touch of reverb that layers nicely with the music. The lyrics feel like they're talking about some of the challenges and reflections of a parent watching their child start exploring the world, "where you been now, little girl? Where you been now, little girl? Why'd you come back looking stoned? ... I can see your eyes all filled with sand, I can see you in there up to your chin, tell me girl, now where you been?" This is a close second as far as favorite tracks. The guitar licks and overall vibe of this song really strikes a chord with me (no pun intended).
This EP was a delightful surprise to see come down the pipeline, and I will probably spin it two or three more times before the day is out. Check it out, and send me your thoughts! You can listen to the album here, and you can pre-order a physical copy here.
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