The chameleon-like singer songwriter, and guitarist Steve Gunn has long been a cartographer of sonic drift, charting subtle currents within the familiar; something he ably demonstrated on his 2023 collaboration with minimalist pianist and fellow New Yorker David Moore (Reflections Vol.1: Let the Moon be a Planet – RVNG Intl). Described in these pages as an album that rewards deep listening, his latest solo release, ‘Music for Writers,’ arriving August 15th via Three Lobed, looks set to continue this trend as he strips back the vocal arrangements for a deeply immersive, instrumental journey. This isn’t background music but rather a deliberate sonic architecture designed to “accompany thought and inspire another way.”
Recorded in disparate locales – Brooklyn, Berlin, Latvia – with a sparse setup of guitar, synthesisers, and field recordings, ‘Music for Writers’ is less about overt narrative and more about creating “small environments.” Tracks emerge from a process of “close attention,” responding to light, weather, or simply “a moment of silence in a long day.” This deeply introspective approach yields pieces that are “open, textured, often slow-moving,” allowing ideas and feelings to ebb and flow within their quietude. Mixed by Ernie Indradat, the album foregrounds atmosphere, a “quiet watching of the world, both beautiful and uncertain,” offering a subtle but steady ground for reflection, daydreaming, or just resting in the in-between.
The album’s lead single, “Slow Singers On The Hill,” offers a tantalising glimpse into this new headspace. A minimalist offering, it has an entrancing gravitational pull and a gentle hauntological vibe, a feeling reflected in the album cover’s striking photography that Gunn took during the recording process.
Steve Gunn: Music for Writers is rooted in a deep need to pause, to reflect. It came from walking without direction, from listening to birds and distant engines, looking at sculpture, watching movement through a window, from writing freely in notebooks and letting sound follow thought. The music is a quiet watching of the world, both beautiful and uncertain. It is shaped by landscape, by anxiety, by peace, the unknown, by the tension between presence and movement.
Music for Writers Tracklisting
- Sky (debesis)
- Safety
- Park Entrance
- Mossy Stump
- Cat
- Slow Singers On The Hill
- Sunday
- Snow / Water
- Dog
- Pedvale Sunrise
Pre-Order Music for Writers: https://stevegunn.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-writers