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Feb 20, 2018 Mount Eerie By Christopher Roberts

Mount Eerie, the project of Phil Elverum (who used to record as The Microphones), is releasing a new album, Now Only, on March 16 via P.W. Elverum & Sun. He previously shared its first single, the 11-minute long “Distortion” (which was our #1 Song of the Week). Now he has shared another song from the album, “Tintin in Tibet,” which opens the album. It is sung to his late wife, about when they first met and when their romance was new. Listen below, followed by his upcoming tour dates.

Mount Eerie released an acclaimed album, A Crow Looked At Me, last March via Elverum’s own label, P.W. Elverum & Sun. The album was written after his wife, Geneviève Elverum (née Gosselin and also known as Geneviève Castrée), passed away in July 2016 after losing her fight with pancreatic cancer. It was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2017 and showed up on a lot of other albums of the year lists as well. Now Only is due out only a year after A Crow Looked At Me.

Geneviève was a musician and comic book artist who had recorded as both Woelv and Ô Paon. Geneviève was diagnosed with inoperable, stage four pancreatic cancer just four months after giving birth to their daughter and died a year later, leaving Elverum to raise their infant daughter on his own. Based on “Distortion,” the album is still understandably about Geneviève. But “Distortion” also tells a tale of a 23-year-old Elverum having a pregnancy scare when he definitely wasn’t ready to have kids. He also sings about attending his great grandfather’s funeral, the first dead body he saw in person, among other things in the seemingly autobiographical track.

A previous press release described Now Only as such: “Now Only is a continuation and deepening of the themes presented on that album. Elverum further explores that style of direct, unadorned lyrical writing, with further ruminations on Castrée’s death and their life together, the effects of the sudden success of these intimate songs, and the concept of remembrance.”

The press release also added: “Elverum’s life during the period he wrote Now Only was defined by the duality of existing with the praise and attention garnered by A Crow Looked At Me and the difficult reality of maintaining a house with a small child by himself, as well as working to preserve Geneviève’s artistic legacy. Consumed with the day to day of raising his daughter, Elverum felt his musical self was so distant that it seemed fictional. Stepping into the role of Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie held the promise of positive empathy and praise, but also the difficulty of inhabiting the intense grief that produced the music. These moments, both public and domestic, are chronicled in these songs. They are songs of remembrance, and songs about the idea of remembrance, about living on the cusp of the past and present and reluctantly witnessing a beloved person’s history take shape. Time continues.”

Read our 2017 interview with Mount Eerie about A Crow Looked At Me.

Mount Eerie Tour Dates:

Feb. 22 - San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Hall (Two Performances)
Mar. 22 - Maspeth, NY - Knockdown Center
Mar. 24 - Los Angeles, CA - The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian
Mar. 29 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
Mar. 30 - Vancouver, BC - The Vogue Theatre
Mar. 31 - Everett, WA - Fisherman’s Village Music Festival

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