i should apologise, this year’s been a bit all over the place for me so far, and as such my usual keyboard meanderings about the music that’s gotten me all fired up over the past twenty four hours have been replaced with whinging by-lines about having no where to live.

well that stops here and actually it wasn’t all bad anyway (please say it wasn’t all bad…) as it led me back home (ok, ok this is a terrible pun, even i admit it) because the lovely adam from hometapes braved the latitudes and furnished me (and we all know that then means you, dear reader) with a pre-mixed and unmastered recording from paul duncan’s new album.

we here at hl love hometapes because of what they do and how they do it, like this…

“ Hometapes makes official the little things in life that define us. We’ve been making things since we were kids, together even then, from every moment we collect. Product architects. Happy just to leave behind something you’ll remember. Hearing and making music, taking pictures, writing something down, designing a page or a package, watching through windows, driving, walking, talking: these are the modest pillars of Hometapes. We engineer products that represent us, our friends/collaborators, and creative everyday life. Sometimes they exceed our expectations and we surely hope they excite yours. Hometapes = music, art, and everything else.“

you can’t not love them after reading that can you?
anyhoo, back to the matter in hand. if you hit up the hometapes (or even paul’s own) site the new paul duncan album’s got no name but is slated to hit the shelves (or servers now i suppose) some time in march.

well, the album’s actually called ‘Above the Trees’ and right here is a chunk of soaring loveliness, which according to Adam Hometapes “sounds incredible” in its finally mixed and mastered version.

i’ve been looping it on repeat/repeat/repeat (always a great sign of greatness) and there’s a new levity to paul duncan’s voice on this track (compared to the occasional growl which rumbled over ‘Be careful…’) which will doubtless draw lazy comparisons to bonnie prince billy and (smog)’s bill callahan when the album is released. and once more his lyrics are balanced, considered and apposite… “my love i’m excited - because we will get older” weighs in to the seasoned mood of ‘red eagle’ with the acoustic guitars strings lapping over a quiet snare, while a calming steel guitar winds its way around the vocal and strings like wood smoke from a cabin in the woods.

so keep the hometape fires burning by checking in on them regularly and see where they’re at and be excited by gorgeous music made by lovely people.

paul duncan - red eagle (pre mastered)