by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Before uprooting from Chicago to Kyoto, Nature’s Neighbor aka Mike Walker, decided to make one more record in the city where he’s developed his sound. The concept behind it is non-traditional to say the least, Walker (joined in the studio by producer Seth Engel) set out to make an album where every song sounds nothing like what came before or after it, an album that works to sound fragmented like a compilation of different artists. The results come to life as The Glass Album, and Walker and co. have achieved their goal, creating an eclectic listen that bounces between sonic polarities (the way you might only get from Ween’s catalog), but despite all odds, it’s still a cohesive listen, at least cohesively engaging. Due out March 10th via TaiDuo Music, Nature’s Neighbor has thrown the conventional sense of genre out the window in favor of a focus on general songwriting.
Lead single “Jeane” is a sparkling alt-country song with a darker underbelly, performed by Walker (vocals, guitar) together with Engel (drums, bass), Will Kyriazis (piano), Andrew Krull (pedal steel), and Lia Kohl (cello). The origin of the song stems from a stained glass image of a woman’s face made by Walker’s ex-wife, that hung in their apartment. Through staring at the magic of the colors and the way it reflected in the sunshine, Walker would make up stories for the face, bringing to life females throughout history whose stories were cut short or soon forgotten, namely those who were sacrificed in archaic witch trials for no reason beyond stupidity, sexism, and misogyny. While it’s a heavy world to imagine in the face of a stained glass made woman, Nature’s Neighbor work with it, weaving a story book melody to a song with sweeping lap steel, earnest twang, and some delightful harmonies.