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Sep 14, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Michael Raines

This week Jimmy LaValle’s The Album Leaf is sharing a full re-recording of their seminal 2001 album, One Day I’ll Be On Time. The reworked version, One Day XX, sees LaValle working with his longtime collaborator James McAlister (Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, The National) and his live band to reimagine each song with new arrangements and a new vision. The full record releases Friday, but LaValle has shared one last taste of the upcoming release with his newly reworked version of “The MP,” premiering with Under the Radar.

One Day I’ll Be On Time came about from a very different artist than LaValle today. LaValle recorded the original as a rising artist, relying on instinctual raw takes and a DIY mindset. LaValle’s reimagining less replaces the original than it does recontextualize it, bringing a collaborative creative process and decades of live experience to launch the track’s track into a new evolution. But, what remains constant are the gorgeous ambient melodies and lush, wide-screen arrangements that made the record special in the first place.

As LaValle explains, “This was one of the earlier reworks we approached. First, a little history, The name of this song is the MP, which is short for The Mercury Program (The band current TAL drummer Dave LeBleu has been in since 1994). I wasn’t comfortable recording drums, so I sampled his drums from the intro of ‘The Vortex East’ and used those sounds to write the drum beat for my original demo. So Dave now recording drums on a song that’s named after his band is pretty cool for me. James added a lot of drumming to this version to add even more depth bringing a unique approach to the rhythm section. This song has become more realized through the years of performing it, so coming at it with a new mindset and taking it further with sounds was the goal. I’m really happy with this version, it captures some of the possibilities of the song and at the same time amplifies why I love to collaborate with James. His ear for sonics in an unconventional way shines in this version.”

Check out the song below and watch for One Day XX, coming September 17th via Nettwerk Music Group.