On September 23rd, guitarist Marisa Anderson releases her new album Still, Here, on which she translates abstractions into undeniably moving music. Every single from this album so far has emphasised not just the unique breadth of her playing and influence but also how fluent she is in conveying such complex emotions and thoughts into music. Lead single ‘Waking’ was described as an ‘alchemical salve’ while “La Llorona” turned to a haunting Mexican traditional folk song for inspiration. Her third single is the most complex and moving translation to be taken from her forthcoming new album so far. “The Fire This Time” nods to James Baldwin and his galvanising Civil Rights essay published in 1963.
The discordance of this piece is very real. It’s mournful, overpowering and tumultuous – all this, expressed through ‘a propulsive acoustic ostinato and mournful duelling pedal steel guitars, pausing only to allow space for the blare of sirens on the Portland street near Anderson’s studio’.
Anderson elaborates: “I made this song on May 30, 2020 in response to the news of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. I didn’t know what to do, I felt so angry and sad, I started making this song that morning and worked on it all day until late. Around midnight I put it up on Bandcamp as a benefit for bail relief for the folks in Minneapolis who were getting arrested for protesting. I left it up for a month to raise money and then I took it down. For this re-release I edited the track a little bit differently, making the ending stretch out and refining the pedal steel voices in the mixing and mastering process. The police siren that you hear around the 30 second mark is real, there were cops going up and down my street that day and the siren was picked up by one of the mics. It seemed like for the rest of that hard summer you couldn’t escape the sound of sirens here in Portland.”
Anderson is touring throughout Europe this September, and will be touring the US with Godspeed You! Black Emperor in October.
Marisa Anderson 2022 tour dates
Sep. 10 Setúbal, PT – Casa de Cultura
Sep. 15 – Belfast, UK – Black Box [tickets]
Sep. 16-17 – Cork, IE – Clonakilty International Guitar Festival [tickets]
Sep. 20 – Lausanne, CH – Cinema Oblò
Sep. 21 – Geneva, CH – Cave 12
Sep 22 – Lyon, FR – Le Sonic [tickets]
Sep 24 – Rovigo, IT – In Stato de Grazia [tickets]
Sep 26 – Prague, CZ – MeetFactory [tickets]
Sep 28 – Innsbruck, AT – Open Space
Sep. 29 – Brussels, BE – AB [tickets]
Oct. 1 – Nantes, FR – Le Lieu Unique Room, Le Grand Atelier [tickets]
Oct. 23 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios [tickets]
Oct. 28 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room & Garage # [tickets]
Oct. 29 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall # [tickets]
Oct. 30 – Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live # [tickets]
Oct. 31 – Dallas, TX – The Texas Theatre # [tickets]
Nov. 1 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre # [tickets]
Nov. 3 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall # [tickets]
Nov. 4 – Omaha, NE – The Admiral Theater # [tickets]
Nov. 5 – Iowa City, IA – The Englert Theatre # [tickets]# w/ Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Pre-order Marisa Anderson’s Still, Here:
https://thrilljockey.com/products/still-here