Noah Gundersen - White Noise (September 22, 2017) Album • Page 4

Did anyone ever get that alternate version of The Sound?

 

Totally forgot to listen to the single until now. Holy shit this is good. I was hoping he would bring some Young in the City influence into his new album. This just became my most anticipated.

 

I am so so so ready for this shit. Between this and that new David Ramirez album, it's gonna be a great fall.

 

Yep. Noah, Ramirez, The National, and Grizzly Bear. Let's get this summer over with.

 

And Field Report, right? Any news on that one?

 

Yep. I got to talk to Chris at a Noah show in Ann Arbor and he said this fall.

I think the record is done though. It may have been for a little while. I just watched a video of Noah saying he has been listening to it and it was a major influence for White Noise

 

Did he play any new songs live? That must have been a crazy good show!

 

Yeah he played a few. I saw him open for Justin Vernon's blues band "The Shouting Matches" in Eau Claire in June. He played quite a few then as well

 

Man, this record is all the fuck over the place.

This was the most bizarre first listen I can remember of an album I was really looking forward to, haha. There were at least three songs where I felt this overwhelming urge to just break down and start crying, but then there were an equal number of moments where I was just like, "What the fuck is he doing here?"

Seriously, he's kind of just throwing everything at the wall on this one. There are songs that sound like classic Noah, but also songs that sound like Radiohead,The 1975, Young in the City, Tears for Fears, Damien Rice, John Mayer, The War on Drugs, etc.

There's one song I pretty genuinely hate, and I don't see myself coming around on. Unfortunately, it's 7+ minutes long. But most of this is very good, and definitely a pretty sizable shift for him. Also, he finally made a great closing track.

 

I hate you for having this already

 

I only got it because I'm interviewing him next week.

Which, if anyone's got any questions they want me to put on the list, I'm all ears.

 

This has me really excited for this album.

 

Have already talked about this album not being self-produced like the last two? Apparently this guy produced it: Nate Yaccino | Credits | AllMusic

 

very excited to hear this weird record. The Sound just really hit me

 

Hmmmm not sure what to think after that post by Craig. I know some people love it when artists grow/try new things but man I think I would have been very okay with him just sticking to a similar sound as his old stuff. It's why I love him haha. I don't know I'm still excited but also nervous now.

 

do you think the storytelling and emotion on the whole is drowned by the sonic experimentation? the way you describe it makes me think there'll be a few songs i'll love to death but a lot of stuff where i'll be like "sounds cool, but i have nothing to emotionally grab onto".

 

I wouldn't worry.

 

still excited, I trust Noah's creativity. this only makes me want to hear it more.

 

There's one song that is really out there, and a few other instances where there are some studio flourishes that I'm not in love with, but those don't really detract from his lyrics/the emotion of his music. Mostly, it's just another step in the evolutionary direction that started on CTG. Plus, "Fear and Loathing," "Dry Year," and "Send the Rain" are pretty classic Noah and arguably his hardest hitting songs ever.

 

Ugh fucking stooooop

 

couldn't tell if some of his recent stories were rehearsals of the new songs or just the band jamming, but I liked what I heard.

 

"Wake Me I'm Drowning" is fucking incredible.

 

Can you tell us a bit about the song you don't like/why you don't like it?
Also, for your interview, I always love hearing what artists are listening to. I think someone above made a comment about hearing "the sound" and going back to their guitar to start writing again. I had a similar experience. There are those songs/albums that you hear and they just make you feel creative. I wonder if he's had any of those -- I call them "jumpstarters."

 

The Sound is a fantastic song. Very much Young in the City sounding - and that’s awesome, because they are great.

 

It's just a mess of a song. It's sort of a two-parter. The first half is actually a pretty good: it starts off as a piano ballad. Abby does some violin work. There are some nice vocal harmonies. Then this bassline kicks in and it sort of turns into this weird, trippy, almost atonal thing. Plus, there's all this studio wankery going on in the background that sounds a little bit like Ross playing keyboards in Friends.

From reading the press materials that came with the album, I definitely think the song is supposed to be very jarring and kind of ugly. But...I don't want to listen to that over and over again.