It can be hard to keep up with Damien Jurado’s prolific nature and harder still to stomach some of his beautifully gut-wrenching writing. Your dedication is almost always paid in full, though – witness the outstanding 2008 album Caught In The Trees.
Jurado is set to follow that up with Saint Bartlett, produced by the Jason Woodbury-approved Richard Swift and due out May 25 on Secretly Canadian. Damien’s wife, Sarah, wrote a thoughtful preface to the album, offering insight into the personal nature of the songs and the writing/recording process: “Richard was able to bring out parts of Damien that had been limited in the past; every vocal is first take, live with guitar. Two of the songs were written on the spot.”
Jurado must be riding a creative high because he’s also posting a new song every week on MySpace until the release of Saint Bartlett – songs that are not on the album. Told you he was prolific. (He’s even all over Twitter and the abstract/random pictures he posts are alone worth following him. Example.)
One song that will be on the album is Arkansas, the first to be released by Secretly Canadian.
Speaking of prolific, Jurado and his brother Drake – otherwise known as Hoquiam – released a self-titled LP on Feb. 23 on St. Ives, a Secretly Canadian offshoot that specializes in limited-edition runs of vinyl-only albums. (But I’ve also seen the album on eMusic.) Damien Jurado discusses the genesis of the project here.
There’s a free download for that album, too, and it’s called Zombies of the Sea.
Very excited about this record indeed. “Ghost of David” remains one of my favorite records, though it’s far from alone as an excellent in Jurado’s catalog.
I wish you’d go into more detail about the record with his brother. No big write-up on the record release party at the Cairo tonight??? It’s at 7pm, $5.00 and everyone should go.. they’re selling their vinyl release with handmade album covers for just 10 bucks. If I lived in Seattle I’d go and buy 2 of them. I hope somebody films it for those of us not lucky enough to live in Seattle.