Wild Nothing, a.k.a Brooklyn-based musician Jake Tatum, released his debut album Gemini in 2010 to critical acclaim. Five years on, with an equally impressive sophomore release and a series of EPs under his belt, Tatum is pleased to announce his third-studio album and self-proclaimed most “mature and honest” work to date, Life of Pause, which will be released 19th February via Bella Union.
With today’s announcement he shares two cuts from the album; “TV Queen” and “To Know You”, both of which are available as instant gratis downloads with pre-order on iTunes and can be streamed via youtube HERE.
When Jack Tatum began work on Life of Pause he had fascinating ambitions. “I desperately wanted for this to be the kind of record that would displace me,” he says. “I’m terrified by the idea of being any one thing, or being of any one genre. And whether or not I accomplish that, I know that my only hope of getting there is to constantly reinvent. That reinvention doesn't need to be drastic, but every new record has to have it's own identity, and it has to have a separate set of goals from what came before.”
Life of Pause is an exquisitely arranged and beautifully recorded collection of songs that marry the immediate with the indefinable. “I allowed myself to go down every route I could imagine even if it ended up not working for me,” he says. “I owe it to myself to take as many risks as possible. Songs are songs you have to allow yourself to be open to everything.”
After a prolonged period of writing and experimentation, recording took place over several weeks in both Los Angeles and Stockholm, with producer Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Beachwood Sparks) helping Tatum in his search for a more natural and organically textured sound. In Sweden, in a studio once owned by ABBA, they enlisted Peter, Bjorn and John drummer John Ericsson and fellow Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra veteran TK, to contribute drums and marimba. In California, at Monahan’s home, Tatum collaborated with Medicine guitarist Brad Laner and a crew of saxophonists. From the hypnotic polyrhythms of “Reichpop” to the sugary howl of “Japanese Alice” to the hallucinogenic R&B of “A Woman’s Wisdom, the result is a complete, fully immersive listening environment. “I just kept things really simple, writing as ideas came to me,” he says. “There’s definitely a different kind of ‘self’ in the picture this time around. There's no real love lost, it's much more a record of coming to terms and defining what it is that you have - your place, your relationships. I view every record as an opportunity to write better songs. At the end of the day it still sounds like me, just new.”
Life of Pause will be released 19th February on Bella Union. Album artwork, tracklisting and new photo by Shawn Brackbill below: