The Giant Squid, full album out this summer
Three songs out now ~
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Baby Isabel with squid.
The majority of the album was recorded over three days in late July 2024 at Big Nice Studio with Bradford Krieger. I knew I wanted to capture each song in its purest form, as they were written and as I would perform them, with full guitar/vocal takes—no click track, no headphones. We added other instruments afterwards in a collaborative effort, trying to get as close as possible to a vision I couldn’t quite picture clearly but knew when I heard it. Brad laid down bass, electric guitar, percussion and lap steel over my guitar/vocal takes. I added some Rhodes and the harmonies in Wander Round My Mind. And with that our studio time was done. I spent the next three months tracking clarinet and the remaining vocal harmonies at home, on an SM57 in a tiny makeshift blanket cave (usually with a cat on my lap).
Written between 2018 and 2020, this album is a long time coming.
These songs kept me company during my early 20s, becoming constant companions as I navigated moves to multiple cities, many job changes, relationships, a brain that couldn’t always figure itself out. I played them often to myself, and I was content for a long time. Of course, once brought forth, songs often take on lives and minds of their own; after years of my clinginess, mine got tired of my company and decided it was time to spread their song-wings and seek out new ears. I am listening earnestly to their pleas for freedom and not looking back. They have messages to bring and work to do, and I hope they are kind to you as they have been kind to me.
~ Isabel