Indie rock singer-songwriter Damien Jurado is more than a folk musician with a guitar. He’s a storyteller. His last two high-concept albums, 2012’s Maraqopa and 2014’s Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son, elaborated on an unnamed character who searches for his true self after losing his way home.
Jurado’s newly announced record, created in collaboration with producer Richard Swift, will finish the tale. The final LP of the trilogy, Visions of Us on the Land, accompanied by vivid artwork, will be unveiled on March 18th through Secretly Canadian.
For more than a decade, the Seattle-based artist has been crafting a variety of sounds, from the late ’90s’ lo-fi cassette folk recordings and a compilation of scattered audio letters from answering machines to electric rock albums. According to Consequence of Sound, Jurado states:
‘Exit 353’ was the first song I wrote for this new album and I initially wasn’t sure about it. When it came time for me to be in the studio, sitting in front of the microphone, I hesitated as to whether or not I would actually perform it once I received the signal from Richard [Swift] that we were recording. I over-counted the beginning and just sang it through. When the take was finished, Richard turned to me and said, ‘I think this could be a great single.’ Living in the fresh uncertainty of what I had just recorded, I just had to lean into it and trust his instinct.
Jurado’s music expressively transcends acoustic ballads. The new track is nostalgic of his tenth studio album Maraqopa, which fuses dreamy, poetic lyricism and down-to-earth folk music with refreshing sincerity. “Exit 353” features guitars reminiscent of the ’70s sprawling psychedelic rock in a hazy, resounding expanse of harmony. The empowering lead single evocatively proves how Jurado thrives in the impressive transition of genres.
The 17-song epic Visions of Us on the Land is unleashed on March 18. Listen to the lead single below.
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