His first new material in three year’s, Will Varley returns on October 15 with The Hole Around My Head, his first for Yellow Cake, a brand new record label and artist protection entity set up by record producer Cameron McVey.
His last release, Spirit Of Minnie was released in 2018 (reviewed here) which reviewer Mike Davies suggested was his strongest yet. While that album was produced by McVey, he is self-producing this new album although he had McVey on hand to offer encouragement and advice via video call from his family spread deep in the Swedish wilderness.
We get to hear the first taste of what’s to come with lead single “Pushing Against Us” on which Will says “Pushing Against Us, and really the whole album is about overcoming entropy, and the will of human beings to push on and create order and patterns in the madness and chaos of our existence. It’s about our stubbornness, our distractions and the minutiae of our everyday lives vs. the sheer vastness of the universe around us and our staggering ignorance.”
After spending most of the last eight years on the road, lockdown forced Will to slow down. “I found myself at home for the first time in years. So I started writing and tinkering around with old mics and bits of equipment I’ve had gathering dust in my basement. It was a very cathartic process, writing and recording this record became my escape from reading the news every day.”
Talking about the album, McVey says “Will’s the Springsteen of his generation to my ears and sensibilities. He’s not really a f**king folk singer is he?! This new record is more of an affirmation than a conscious change of direction. The songs are raw and the production almost painfully too honest at times. Will plays and sings like his studio is on fire and he has to finish before it burns to the ground.”
More here: https://www.willvarley.com/
Photo Credit: Brett Walker