Young Jesus - The Fool (May 18, 2024)

ItsAndrew · Feb 20, 2024

1. Brenda & Diane
2. Two Brothers
3. Rabbit
4. Rich
5. Moonlight
6. MOTY
7. The Weasel
8. Am I the Only One
9. Sunrise
10. Dancer
11. God’s Plan

John Rossiter (a.k.a Young Jesus) was clearing trash out of a citrus orchard in Tarzana when he received a mysterious email from Shahzad Ismaily.

i was curious to reach out to Young Jesus about Milford Graves.

can you please put me in touch with them?

are they still LA based?

kind regards,

shahzad

Milford Graves was an interdisciplinary drum genius who explored connections between improvisational music, the human body, gardening, art, and science. Many years earlier, John had been asked if there were any artists he’d like to meet or collaborate with – Graves was the first name that came to mind.

John had quit music to study permaculture and to work in landscapes and gardens. His last album, Shepherd Head, was too much time spent on the computer. Music had left John tired, jaded, and disconnected. Working with soil and plants gave him some life back. He said, “You know, when gardening, the right decision to make for the landscape is usually the one that is already happening. It just takes time to read what that is."

So, John left the orchard to meet Shahzad (Feist, Lou Reed, Arooj Aftab) for lunch. They instantly bonded, talking about improvisation, rhythm, the heart. On a lark, Shahzad invited John to New York. When John demurred, Shahzad cooked up a scheme to have John working in his garden in between sessions. Half ruse, half invitation. Shahzad The Trickster, leading them deeper into their strange journey.

They improvised whenever they were in the same town. John would work in Shahzad's garden in New York. Back at home in Los Angeles, John met with Alex Babbitt and Alex Lappin to plant fruit trees and build paths from broken concrete. After work, they'd sit at a piano and sing their hearts out.

Songs started to form, songs about shame and grief, love and redemption. They came fast, a song a day for two weeks. It was different from past albums, which felt like years of hammering out lyrics and ideas. This one came in the wake of a long illness, where tunes came in a rush, as if they were physical, as if the body couldn’t heal without them. An almost involuntary outpouring, overrunning his usual self-consciousness.

Rossiter had to sit and transcribe without judgment: let the ideas grow on their own. Shahzad was in LA one day when John sat down at the piano and played them for him. They decided to record them at Shahzad's Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn – these songs would blossom into Young Jesus’ forthcoming album, The Fool.

The crew grew naturally from there. Lappin and Babbitt joined them in New York. Phil Weinrobe (Adrianne Lenker, Lonnie Holley) engineered and helped produce the songs. Aaron Roche came and sang. As the week went on, everyone grew closer, talking through the deep darkness in some of these songs. Building trust and friendship. Healing a bit. Rossiter remembers recording the tune "Rich". How it started so uncomfortably. Too much shame, sadness. No connection between the musicians. But, slowly, people showed up. Lappin's great aunt and uncle. Uncle Jack asked John if he'd ever talked to a therapist and everyone burst out laughing. Shahzad's daughter. Everyone shared some food and laughed. By the end they were singing the final line of the song - "back when I was a kid" - together.

Rossiter and Lappin went back to LA to finish the songs. They guided each other in the same way they built those broken concrete paths in the garden - sometimes using a sledgehammer, sometimes using their bare hands. Shahzad and Daniel Littleton (of IDA) happened to be in LA, and they came together to do a couple takes of "Rabbit" with Pete Min at Lucy's Meat Market. It was deeply connected music and they left the session laughing. Phil Weinrobe and Phil Hartunian (Westerman, Florist) mixed the record, former Young Jesus drummer Kern Haug mastered it.

Inner landscaping requires presence and bravery. It can get pretty dark and strange the deeper you walk into that jungle. And it’s from the absolute pits of that inner landscape that the truest music rises from.

At the end of the last session, Rossiter and Lappin sat down and drew tarot cards. John drew The Fool.

OotyPa · Feb 20, 2024

I really miss the old vibes of this band/project.

Leftandleaving · Feb 20, 2024

i reallllllly did not enjoy the last one. hope this is different

jordalsh · Feb 26, 2024

he has made his storytelling/Mountain Goats record. it is joyous. the most straightforward record he’s made since grow decompose. it’s really really beautiful imo. i cannot really remember a note of the last one but this hit me hard

OotyPa · Feb 26, 2024

That’s really good to hear

matthaber · Feb 26, 2024

Brenda and Diane is incredible so I’m stoked they back to form

jordalsh · Apr 5, 2024

Moonlight out today — one of my favorites on the record.

Leftandleaving · May 16, 2024

matthaber · May 23, 2024

This knocked me on my ass.

Might be their best album? I dunno, im speaking crazy now

jordalsh · May 23, 2024

it’s stunning honestly i could put it at the top too

Drew Beringer · May 24, 2024

my favorite record of 2024

wisdomfordebris · May 24, 2024

I’ve only listened to one other album by Young Jesus but this is off to a magnificent start. Sorta feels like hearing Benji (ew) for the first time where it’s not exactly the type of music I’ve been into lately but the lyrics and storytelling have me hooked

Rich just broke me

wisdomfordebris · May 24, 2024

Wow this is really fucking powerful

OotyPa · May 24, 2024

Guess I should check this out

radiodead · May 24, 2024

Echo a lot of sentiment in here. Really kind of hated the last record after loving the previous three a ton. “Brenda and Diane” is an incredible song and I’m very excited to listen to this today.

Drew Beringer · May 24, 2024

I will have an interview on my blog up later this afternoon

KeynDooee · May 24, 2024

Last one bummed me out. Glad to hear I should check back in.

Friendjamin · May 25, 2024

Wow, this is really something. Listened once, read the lyrics and listened to it again.

sean_rugy · May 29, 2024

this is perfect

sean_rugy · Jun 3, 2024

john goes off in 'god's plan'

Drew Beringer · Jun 3, 2024

glad this is resonating - it's so good - almost finished editing my interview with John and should be posted within the next two days

yung_ting · Jun 3, 2024

Top 5 for me this year. Feels so good to say because I wasn’t sure another YJ record would impact me the same without the full band but it’s incredible

phaynes12 · Jun 6, 2024

jesus christ this is good, MOTY is incredible specifically

sean_rugy · Jun 6, 2024

it's currently mk.gee, dehd, and this in my top 3 for the year

sean_rugy · Jun 10, 2024

ordered a record over the weekend

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