April 10th marks the UK release of Nels Andrews new album Pigeon and the Crow which was produced by traditional Irish flautist Nuala Kennedy (Gerry O’Connor, Will Oldham). The press for the album describes it as a songwriter’s record in the spirit of Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece with a breath of the texture, rhythm, and longing of Milton Nascimento’s Clube De Esquina. The album brims with literary wordplay (as can be heard below), mixed with some sway, some shimmer, and some sand between your toes.
We have the pleasure of sharing his new video for album track Table by the Kitchen, the video for which was filmed in his drummer’s living room on Santa Cruz, California which is where Andrews is now based. While the video was shot before the current pandemic, revisiting the footage for comment does, as you can read below, give Andrews pause for reflection on being grateful for sharing moments with others, a thought that is heightened as the video opens to Andrews taking a pre-video shot on his Nikon film camera – a memory to treasure and one he hopes to enjoy again soon.
Nels Andrews on Table by the Kitchen:
“‘Table by the Kitchen’ is a song about me stumbling into middle age and trying to come to grips with digital communication, how we see each other’s curated best lives streaming so fast in front of us on our social media. Like when you finally get seated at that new restaurant after waiting in line in the cold…but then get the crappy spot next to the dirty dishes, and you’re still just watching from the corner.
“Dan Folds at Pint of Soul video recorded this live in my drummer Jon’s living room in the redwooded mountains above Santa Cruz California. It featured my live band, Jeff Kissell, on Bass, Jon Payne on Drums, Rory Cloud on Guitar and Allyson Makuch on vocals.
“Watching it again, now, makes me even more grateful for being able to create together in the same room, which I will appreciate on whole new levels next time we get to do things like that again.”
The album artwork is beautifully presented, and for analogue fans like myself, the vinyl looks like a work of art, a “limited edition gatefold packaging, on a surprise mix of remelted multi-colored vinyl remnants !…Bradley Cox’s gorgeous photos, design/ packaging by Mark Shephard, and original illustrations by Mike Bencze.”
The book/Flexi disc option includes a graphic novella with flexi-disc of the single included.
Pre-Order via Bandcamp (Digital | Vinyl | Book Flexi Disc | CD): https://nelsandrews.bandcamp.com/album/pigeon-and-the-crow-2
Photo Credit: Bradley Cox