While it’s been five years since Bill Mackay‘s last solo album, Fountain Fire, he has been kept busy in the interim by collaborations with Katinka Kleijn and Nathan Bowles. Then, last year, he joined forces with Bitchin Bajas’ Cooper Crain to deliver Foreign Smokes. This album made it into both our Top 100 Albums of 2023 and Glenn Kimpton’s Top 10 Albums in the good company of Daniel Bachman, Bill Orcutt, Liam Grant, Xylouris White, Steve Gunn & David Moore and John Fahey. Last year’s Black Duck also made it into our Top 100, a collaboration with guitarist and bassist Douglas McCombs and drummer Charles Rumback.
Delirious with pride, Drag City have today announced Bill’s new album, a new solo long player, recontextualising BCMC’s meditative template with trademark songwriting par excellence. Locust Land is released on May 24th, and to accompany the album announcement, he has shared his lead single, “When I Was Here”.
“When I Was Here”, featuring Mikel Patrick Avery on percussion and Sam Wagster on bass is a surging, blistering, blues-inflected jam with a lyric so sweet it stings. Speaking on the track’s origins and themes, MacKay said: “If you get to return to hometowns and early magic places, you might see what remains of your life before. Are the people there? What’s the meaning of what you’ve passed through? It may be eternal and will always be a part of you. Adventures leave new worlds in their wake, but it’s not for everyone. Paths diverge & you change but there are eras & experiences that never completely leave you.”
Watch the accompanying video below that was Directed and edited by Mikel Patrick Avery.
Pre-Order Locust Land album – https://www.dragcity.com/products/locust-land
Stream “When I Was Here” single – http://lnk.to/locustland
Without wanting to give too much away too early on, Locust Land promises something a little different from Bill’s norm. Alongside his signature guitar, he plays a variety of keyboards, from piano to organ to synth, and there is an increased vocal presence — and heightened engagement, with Bill’s words and melodies drawing us closer.
Also different: on his previous solo recordings, Bill played every sound. Here, he has invited other illustrious Chicagoans to join him: Sam Wagster (The Father Costume, Mute Duo) plays bass on three songs, two of which feature the percussion playing of Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society, Jeff Parker, etc.). Additionally, Janet Beveridge Bean (Eleventh Dream Day, Freakwater) adds otherworldly vocal textures to one track.
Drag City say – Whether played alone or with companions, this music projects the strength of a universal collective.
That’s why we love his music so much.
Bill MacKay US Tour Dates:
May 23rd – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout
June 3rd – Indianapolis, IN @ State Street Pub
June 4th – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy
June 5th – Charlotte, NC @ Tabor
June 6th – Washington, D.C. @ Rhizome
June 7th – Brooklyn, NYC @ Public Records
June 8th – Northampton, MA @ 90 King St.
June 9th – Rochester, NY @ Bop Shop
June 10th – Detroit, MI @ Moondog Café
Locust Land Tracklisting
- Phantasmic Fairy
- Keeping in Time
- Glow Drift
- Half of You
- Oh Pearl
- Radiator
- When I Was Here
- Neil’s Field
- Locust Land
Website: https://billmackay.com/