ECKMAN,CHRIS - WHERE THE SPIRITS REST Price: €27.99 Format: LP Availability: Immediate Dispatch

The fifth solo album from Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts, Dirtmusic, Distance, Light & Sky)

is a deep dive into the vagaries of these extraordinary times. Eckmans luminous song-

writing navigates loss, disorientation, redemption and the search for home. Recorded raw

and direct with a small ensemble, the record is framed by expansive sonic textures: treated

strings, analogue synth drones and ambient guitars. Where the Spirit Rests was co-produced

with British electronic composer Alastair McNeill (Roísín Murphy, Yila) and includes an

inspired cast of collaborators: pedal steel maverick Chuck Johnson, avant-garde violinist

Catherine Graindorge and Dream Syndicate/Green on Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas.



The All Music Guide called Eckman "one of the most underrated U.S. songwriters, a man who

can pack a short story into image-laden lyrics." The new album - Where the Spirit Rests - is

amongst his most personal and vivid. A place to which he has been headed all along.



This has been a time thats clawed at our hearts. Its dug deep into our bones. Its been a

time to reach for touchstones to help us through it all, whether its the solace of the familiar

or the seeking of something new. For Chris Eckman, the time brought the desire to write

songs once more, crafting and shaping the music that would become his new album, Where

the Spirit Rests. "I hadnt played a lot of guitar in the last few years," explains Eckman (whose

other job is running the global music label Glitterbeat). Even before the pandemic tore the

world apart, hed been confronting difficult changes in his personal life. Picking up the instrument

again brought a muscle memory, a lifeline. It was a return to the things hed known for decades as

a musician. "From that, some songs came. They werent very good at first, then around spring

things started to grow."



Songwriting brought a way to navigate his life, to articulate the thoughts and emotions

tumbling around his head. At that point, though, they were only songs; he had no thought of

making them into an album. "There was no deadline, there wasnt even a project; I had time to

think about words and lines," he recalls. "I ended up with between 15 and 20 songs. Seven

made it onto the record."



Of those seven, the first two on the record ("Early Snow" and "This Curving Track") came as his

writing began to catch fire, while the final three ("Northern Lights," "Where the Spirit Rests"

and "CTFD") were among the last of the batch. Together, they form a collection of oblique short

stories, "an internal dialogue between a person and the outside world," Eckman says. "Its a

very insular voice, kind of like those Samuel Beckett rolling monologues." But theres nothing

abstract here. The narrators perspective is always firmly rooted in the real world. "I wanted dirt

under the fingernails, touching the earth," he adds.



The recording process began as tentatively as the writing. Eckman has years of studio experience,

as a performer with The Walkabouts, Dirtmusic and others and as the producer of countless

albums. This time, though, he needed things to be different.



The whole sound of Where the Spirit Rests is intimate and close. Eckmans dusty voice and hypnotic

acoustic guitar draws the listener into the hushed secrets gradually being revealed. He trusted the

collaborators to add what was right. His only instruction was to listen closely and then record what

they heard. It was a calculated risk, "but I had it all back in four or five days and I didnt change a note.

I just lined up what theyd done with the original tracks. It turned out to be one of the least

deliberately arranged records Ive ever done."

The contributions ranged from the simplicity of McNeills disquieting synth drone under "Early Snow"

to ambient country pioneer Chuck Johnsons atmospheric pedal steel on "This Curving Track." Eckman

was wary about approaching him, as he releases Johnsons acclaimed albums via his label. But in the

end that was no problem; it turned out Johnson had been a fan of Eckmans former band, The

Walkabouts. Old Seattle friend Jon Hyde brought woozy, boozy carousing steel sounds to "Drinking in

America," a track that teeters on a knife-edge of violence - what Eckman calls his "break up with America

song."

Violinist Catherine Graindorge, who orchestrated "Cabin Fever" and the title track, brought the kind of

colours and unpredictability thats highlighted her work with John Parish and Nick Cave/Warren Ellis.

Chris Cacavas, pulled his Wurlitzer electric piano out of the closet for the subtle gospel shadings on

"Where the Spirit Rests." And Eckmans long-time Ljubljana cohorts Blaž Celarec (drums) and Žiga

Golob (upright bass), provided the supple, resonant groove. Track by track, Where The Spirit Rests

unspools patient, lengthy songs. Like a grainy Super-8 film, scene builds upon scene, each revealing

a kernel of truth, and the stark honesty at its heart.





“I'm interested in how the story is told, the narrative aspects. The elusive details,” Eckman says.

“Maybe that makes things not so easy to navigate. You have to mark out a listening space.”



Take the time. Follow the curving track that leads from the disorientation of “Early Snow” to the promise

of redemption that hangs like hope over “CTFD.” But in these times, it's still only a tentative destination

on the horizon: “I see tomorrow different now/ Both savage and demure/ August comets glistening/

Though still a bit unsure”.



Gradually, cautiously, moving towards a place where the spirit can rest.



Tracklisting

Early Snow

This Curving Track

Cabin Fever

Drinking in America

Northern Lights

Where the Spirit Rests

CTFD