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Spencer Thomas is not any joke. The sadly stunning, unassumingly fantastic The Joke Of Life has all of the inventive twists, timeless melodies and emotional resonance of a kind of ageless ’70s singer/songwriter LPs you retain returning to: Warren Zevon, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney’s Ram. And whereas it might be a stretch to incorporate Thomas’ second solo album in the identical firm as these classics, it definitely runs in the identical social circles. The Joke Of Life is out tomorrow on Strolling Bones, however you possibly can preview the complete album under.
Thomas hails from Jackson, Miss., the place acquired his begin because the drummer, singer and songwriter for alt-country quintet Younger Valley. He launched his solo debut, Hangin’ Powerful, in 2019, touring the nation with collaborators Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster (Water Liars) and Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers). A yr later, Thomas was residing in Athens, Ga., the place he started engaged on the uncooked items that might evolve into The Joke Of Life. Thomas produced the album with Ryan Engelberger at Athens’ Chase Park Transduction. He had assist from Dave Barbe (Sugar), Jay Gonzales (Drive-By Truckers), Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket), Kiffy Meyers (Futurebirds) and different Athens music-scene regulars. We fired just a few questions Thomas’ method. Right here’s what he needed to say.
Musically and thematically, what are the obvious variations between The Joke Of Life and Hangin’ Powerful?
The brief reply: I discovered to chuckle as an alternative of cry. Hangin’ Powerful was the standard debut-record story. I collected songs I’d written over the course of years to make my first mark as a “first title/final title” songwriter. That made me cautious about manufacturing—you possibly can hear its rawness and minimalism. I used to be nonetheless studying to make use of my voice in the way in which that informed a narrative, and I used to be nonetheless studying to play the keys with fluidity. The songs had been extra “me” targeted.
The Joke Of Life exhibits maturity. I’d stared the despair described in Hangin’ Powerful within the face—and I understood its sources sufficient to beat them. Principally. I acquired to know myself and gained perception into what made songs attention-grabbing to me, digging into artists just like the Replacements, Leonard Cohen and Warren Zevon. I like the large, attention-grabbing instrumentation of the Seashore Boys’ Pet Sounds and Cohen’s Demise Of A Girls’ Man. I needed that basic sound with fashionable capabilities. There’s extra “he, she, you and us” on this album. I discovered to take the magnifying glass off myself, and I discovered the humor and profundity in every day existence.
How did you fall in with Futurebirds?
I opened for them 10 years in the past with Younger Valley in Jackson. We made positive we had been their opening band each time they got here via Mississippi—we appeared as much as them. Thomas Johnson took a liking to my solo file; Daniel Womack and I lined one another’s songs on Instagram livestreams through the pandemic. As soon as I landed in Athens, Thomas invited me over to his home, and it felt so good to simply drink beer on a porch and jam on songs we preferred. All of us missed a little bit of that in 2020. The subsequent day, he requested if I may play drums for some yard events they had been doing. A couple of months later, it was bass. A couple of months after that, I drummed on some demos. Then, they went to the studio with Carl Broemel to file their Bloomin’ EP and requested if I’d play keys. Mainly, I made myself obtainable till I ended up within the band.
Clarify a bit about how The Joke Of Life was recorded. It was over three years, right?
Oh boy … sure. I moved to Athens in August 2020. Whereas I had some buddies right here, I wanted to search out the individuals who may carry this imaginative and prescient to life. That’s what took the time. Discovering the suitable gamers, re-recording elements, overdubbing, enhancing … mixing, mixing and mixing. Ryan Engelberger and I had some critical edits to make, and (mixing engineer) Nate (Nelson) and I spent hours getting simply the suitable steadiness for all of it. I used to be simply being cautious. I can’t let you know what number of mornings I listened to mixes and went over to Nate’s home saying, “Let’s tweak these two issues.” Recorded songs are by no means achieved. You simply want somebody to let you know to cease.
—Hobart Rowland
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