Lt Dan Buckley here making Nashville’s own Rayland Baxter my DJ pick of the week. I loved his last record and can’t wait to hear the new one Wide Awake out July 13 on ATO Records. Don’t miss his hometown show at The Basement East July 18. with Okey Dokey.
When it came time to record his mountain of new songs, Baxter relocated to Santa Monica, California, where he wrangled an all-star studio band that included Dr. Dog’s Erick Slick on drums, Butch Walker on bass, Cage The Elephant’s Nick Bockrath on guitar, and piano wizard Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith, Brian Eno) on keys. A producer and artist equally at home working with massive pop stars and indie stalwarts, Walker immediately embraced Baxter’s vision for the album, and the result is a sunny and altogether charming collection. Scratch beneath the surface, though, and you’ll find it’s populated by a cast of characters who project a vision of the good life as they struggle to keep it all together behind closed doors. On the punchy ‘Casanova,’ the singer reckons with debts he knows he’ll never be able to repay, while the volatile “Amelia Baker” charts the narrator’s descent into near-madness as he pines for a starlet perpetually out of reach.
“We have this society where we’re obsessed with celebrity and living on the top of the mountain,” says Baxter. “But what’s at the top? Maybe it’s a lonely place to wake up.”
Listen to “Casanova” below and let us know what you think.
Pre-order and tour dates at http://wideawake.raylandbaxter.com/
http://www.facebook.com/RaylandBaxter…
http://www.twitter.com/raylandishere
https://www.instagram.com/raylandishere/
