John Vanderslice gives away new single for free

John Vanderslice, little known on these shores, is set to release a new album – a “career-defining moment, a pitch-perfect collection written and recorded with the utmost care and attention”.
Romanian Names is Vanderslice’s first releases on Dead Oceans, and will hopefully get the fella the attention he deserves later this year. Written outside of his famed San Francisco recording studio for the first time, he constructed a simple basement studio in his home and wrote and recorded the elemental demos for these songs alone with simply a guitar or piano to accompany his voice. The emphasis was placed on melody and structure, putting thoughts of instrumentation and studio wizardry on hold until there was a complete and stable foundation to build upon.

The songs were given time to breathe, to be re-worked and reorganized, and sometimes enough time to be thrown out entirely. Benefiting from this organic and evolutionary process, Romanian Names coheres beautifully.

The album is subtle and lush, with a lyrical approach less concerned with narrative and cohesion than previous JV records, leading to a new tone that feels self-assured, natural, and unafraid. The results come in the way of killer sing-along choruses, memorable and punchy hooks, and knock-out atmospherics.

A free download of ‘Fetal Horses’ is available here.