Countries Van William

• 1 Before I Found You 03:08
• 2 Revolution 03:57
• 3 Fourth Of July 03:35
• 4 The Country 03:49
• 5 Don't Take My Love 03:36
• 6 Never Had Enough Of You 04:04
• 7 The Middle 03:26
• 8 Skyward 03:21
• 9 You'll Be On My Mind 03:59
• 10 Cosmic Sign 02:50
• 11 Taking Love 03:54
• Total Runtime 39:39

Info zu Countries

Mit „Countries“ betritt ein neuer Name die Folk-Szene: Van William. Dem jungen Süd-Kalifornier gelingt bei seinem Debüt-Album Erstaunliches: er findet in seinen Songs den gemeinsamen Nenner von hintergründigen Texten, reduzierten Arrangements und eingängigen Melodien. Weil dem aus San Luis Obispo stammenden Künstler dieser Spagat auffallend souverän und lässig gelingt, wird Van William bereits als große Hoffnung in der amerikanischen Folk-Pop-Gemeinde gehandelt.

Wie für viele Kollegen, ist Songwriting auch für Van William offenbar eine Art Therapie. Eine Sitzung mit sich selbst; eine Konfrontation mit seinen Emotionen, Problemen und Sorgen. Im Falle des 33-jährigen Newcomers: mit Liebeskummer. Die Single „Revolution“ entstand, wie er sagt, nachdem er zum ersten Mal in seinem Leben so richtig an Herz-Schmerz litt. Und wie bei den meisten Kollegen ist auch bei ihm dieser Zustand perfekte Voraussetzung, um ein großartiges Stück Musik zu schreiben. Dazu kommt: Jede Note, jede Silbe des warmkehligen Sängers verdeutlichen die große Persönlichkeit, die ganz besondere Individualität des Künstlers. Da ist es kein Wunder, dass er sich, nach zwei Bandprojekten – bei den Indie-Rock-Bands Waters und Port O’Brien – jetzt auf Solokurs begibt. Weitere Songs von „Countries“ wie das hymnisch-ekstatische Liebeslied „Never Had Enough Of You“ oder das fröhliche „The Country“ machen endgültig klar: Folk-Pop- und Singer/Songwriter-Szene sind um ein großes Talent reicher.

Van William, Gesang, Gitarre

Van William
has spent every summer of his life working on his father's commercial salmon fishing boat off Kodiak Island, Alaska - a job he loved and a job that influenced every part of his life. When he wasn't fishing, he was growing up in the small coastal California town of Cambria, learning to write songs and eventually touring the world by the age of 20 - leading a few different indie rock outfits including Port O'Brien and WATERS. He always knew he could fall back on fishing, until earlier this year when his father announced he would be retiring and selling the boat after 49 summers in Alaska. This coincided with the love of his life ending their 6 year long relationship. The two events sent Van reeling.

"I had always genuinely considered taking over the boat," explains William. "Music has always been my passion, but as a realist who also loves the physical labor and intensity of commercial fishing, I could never really know which career path would be more fulfilling or what I would be better at." The decision was made for him and his sudden and profound losses forced him to focus on what matters most, resulting in his remarkable solo debut 'Countries.'

Anchored in Van William's love of melodic songcraft and infused with melancholy, 'Countries' doesn't belong to any specific style. It's American Heartache, music that stirs up forgotten memories and feels eternal and fresh, as it pulls the past into the present as a way of navigating considerable loss

'Countries' feels immediate, reflecting how Van William had no other option than letting his feelings spill on the page. "I was freaked out, but part of that freak-out was this renewed sense of drive and purpose. I had to take stock of where I was at musically. My previous projects no longer felt honest in their pursuit and style. This cataclysm of events shook me back into feeling present with what I want to do and who I want to be as an artist. I don't know if I would've got there without it."

Van William's tumultuous year can be heard on 'Countries,' an album that also exudes warmth, mirroring the intimacy of its recording. After writing the record in seclusion in the Sierra Nevada, he decided to head to a studio in Stinson Beach, Marin County, California with a few close friends—including his co-producer Brian Phillips, Dawes drummer Griffin Goldsmith, POP ETC bassist Chris Chu and keyboardist Tam Visher— creating a homespun atmosphere whose coziness can be heard on the album. This was the only way this album could be recorded—confessional songs delivered with the support of confidants.

Van William was well aware that he created 'Countries' during a period where his own country was roiled with tension, realizing that his own stories carried a wider sociological dimension. "I started to think of the idea of two people in a relationship acting as separate countries. Different countries that start as two separate entities but throughout history, their borders change and morph into each other. They're constantly trying to figure out how to get along, and that felt like so much to me like my experience with my last relationship."

Such parallels surface clearly on "Revolution," a song about a couple at odds on how to solve their problems that can also be read as a political rallying cry. Thanks to harmonies from the Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit, "Revolution" carries a delicate sense of heartbreak, a sentiment that also echoes on "The Middle"—a sensitively etched portrait of a relationship's second act—and the lush "Skyward," which floats upward on its sweet strings. But Countries doesn't strictly dwell on sadness. "Fourth of July" camouflages its yearning for emotional freedom in an effervescent melody, "Cosmic Sign" offers a ray of hope in its celebration of the wide vistas of America, while "Never Had Enough Of You" rumbles forth with a barnstorming majesty of reminiscent of early 70’s Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

'Countries' may also recall the burnished ache of acoustic Young but in its melancholic forgiveness, the album suggests such modern touchstones as Beck's Sea Change, and like those masters, Van William has the skill to turn his own heartbreak into something rich, resonant and true.

Booklet für Countries