Great news for fans of Turner Cody who has a new album out on May 6th titled ‘Last of the Big Time Spenders’. My first introduction to his work was through Simple Folk Radio who aired a live session on here back in June last year. He is a prolific singer songwriter who has made quite a name himself on the NYC anti-folk scene where he lives with his wife Madeline Valentine. His most recent albums have all featured Herman Dune on bass & drums, members of Beirut and Arcade Fire. In 2004, he co-founded the notorious club night ‘Hassid Meets Hipster’ which united two disparate elements of Brooklyn culture and continued for three years. Recently, he worked with video director Chris Edley (art director, MGMT) and had a track used in the Oscar nominated film ‘Un Prophet’ directed by Jacques Audiard.
About ‘Last Of The Big Time Spenders’, Turner says:
‘For the first record of my thirties, I wanted to make something that spoke to adulthood and the changing times. I’d recorded my four previous records with full bands, often times in three or four days. I felt that this approach sometimes masked the subtleties of my writing and didn’t always play to my strengths as a singer. On this record, attention to detail was key. I wanted ‘Better Days’ to sound like a Motown rehearsal. I used the nylon string guitar because I felt it conveyed more nuance than simply ‘folk’, and I think we evoked some baroque chamber music sounds on ‘Beautiful Day’ and some Barcelona cafe jam on ‘A Guy Who Isn’t Home’. It’s the shortest record I’ve made so far, and for the first time I actually cut tracks I didn’t think met the standard I’d set. For me, making this record was an exercise in self-criticism. Many thanks Dan Myers and Paul Loren for their expertise and patience.’
Video for album track ‘Better Days’ (Animated by Steven Mertens and Chris Tucci)
Photo credit: Vanessa Bureau – ‘Paris Can-Can with Herman Dune on stage in background’