Last year Phil Elverum released the devastating tribute to his late wife Geneviève Castrée Elverum, A Crow Looked At Me. The album was a raw, personal look into the stages of losing a loved one to cancer and the fallout after their death. It was one of the most well-received albums of year, appearing near the top of our own Album of the Year list in 2017.
Information on a page on iTunes indicates that Elverum is planning to release another set of songs in 2018 that will be titled Now Only. The page states it is expected to be released on March 16, 2018. It will consist of six songs that according to Setlist.fm, Elverum has been playing at recent Mount Eerie shows. Most of the songs are over five minutes with the second track “Distortion” stretching over the 10 minute mark. The first single from the album “Distortion” has shared as well.
Song lyrics from the album are listed on Genius and a brief glance shows that these songs are very much about the same topics that defined A Crow Looked At Me. For instance, the first line from the album opener “Tintin in Tibet” is “I sing to you / I sing to you, Geneviève / I sing to you / You don’t exist / I sing to you though.” The song goes on to describe Elverum meeting his future wife with stunning clarity and pained, but loving, detail. It concludes with the lines “And yes I do picture you there, molecules dancing / But still I’d rather you were in the house watching the unfolding everyday life of this good daughter we made / Instead of being scattered by the wind for no reason.”
“Tintin in Tibet”:
“Distortion”:
Now Only track list
1. Tintin in Tibet
2. Distortion
3. Now Only
4. Earth
5. Two Paintings by Nikolai Astrup
6. Crow, Pt. 2
Elverum has several dates lined up for 2018. Check them out below.
Mount Eerie Tour Dates:
01/19 – Auckland, New Zealand – Academy Cinemas
01/21 – Perth, Australia – Mojos
01/23 – Sydney, Australia – City Recital Hall
01/24 – Melbourne, Australia – Melbourne Recital Centre
01/25 – Castlemaine, Australia – Theatre Royal
02/22 – San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall
03/22 – Maspeth, NY – The Knockdown Center
03/24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian
03/29 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
03/30 – Vancouver, British Columbia – The Vogue Theatre