Today, Kurt Vile has announced his new album, Philadelphia’s been good to me, will be out on May 29, through Verve Records. The album has time-collapsing quality, merging meandering balladry and horizon-chasing road songs. Philadelphia isn’t exactly Neil Young’s Malibu, California or Terry Allen’s Lubbock, Texas, but every great American songwriter needs to stake a claim for the town that feels most like home, and with this album, the man who came out of the gate calling himself “Philly’s constant hitmaker” has crafted a love letter to the city he never left, even as his career took him around the world.
“This is my ‘bringing it all back home to Philly’ record,” Vile says. “I’m treating it like my last record. I put everything into it. It’s my best vocal record. It’s my best electric guitar record. It’s my most organic record, made in the comfort of my own zone.” Though it’s a snapshot of his life at a particular moment in time, Philadelphia’s been good to me embodies Vile’s understanding of music as a conversation between people across time.
On today’s single, “Chance to Bleed,” Vile looks back on his early days in the underground music scene. Featuring guest vocals from old friends. It’s a catchy-as-hell barnburner he calls “hillbilly techno” and appropriately, its music video was filmed at Fishtown institution Kung Fu Necktie, packed out with friends and collaborators, including Hoffman, Buckler and Cartwright. It even boasts cameos from comedian Jim E Brown and a fellow hometown hero: the one and only Schoolly D, popping up in his signature fur coat.
Philadelphia’s been good to me Track List
1. Zoom 97
2. 99 BPM
3. Rock ‘o Stone
4. You don’t know cuz it’s my life
5. Chance to Bleed
6. Philly’s been good to me
7. 99th song
8. Red Room Dub
9. Every time I look at you
10. Piano for Sarah
11. Avalanches of Snow
Photo Credit: Stephen Hoffmeister
Leave a Comment