Kelley Stoltz's Sub Pop debut, Below the Branches, is once again a home made creation, recorded on an 8-track reel-to-reel in his bedroom...
“I have the drums, amps, pianos, toy xylophones and the rest all crammed in with my bed and desk," Kelley says. "It gets a bit claustrophobic, but it’s the way I like to record; to get something at the moment, or even before the moment, of creation; to roll tape and see what comes out, before rethinking things too much.
“I play all the instruments and record everything myself, at home, so essentially I’m always ‘in the studio.’ I write and record things all the time and my home studio affords me the chance to work on songs whenever I want.”
Below the Branches picks up where Antique Glow left off, combining psych rock, folk, blues, and pop in its 13 tracks, but Kelley explores new directions as well. “On the new album, I played lots more piano. For the first time ever I had a piano in my recording room, so it appears on a lot of the new tracks. The guitar has been my primary songwriting instrument for the last ten years, so switching to something new, learning the chords as I go along, has made the writing process more fun.”
Kelley's songs take shape as improvisational-pop, and as a devoted music fan, his influences often leap out in the songs but just as quickly merge into something else. "Somebody called it John Lennon-Krautrock, which makes me happy," he says.
Tracklist
- Wave Goodbye
- Little Lords
- Ever Thought Of Coming Back
- Words
- Mystery
- Summer's Easy Feeling
- Memory Collector
- Birdies Singing
- The Rabbit Hugged The Hound
- The Sun Comes Through
- Winter Girl
- Prank Calls
- No World Like The World
