The debut collaborative album from world-renowned UK producer, Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), and American guitarist, William Tyler. Inspired by their shared deep connection to 1980s American country and folk artists such as Lyle Lovett, Nancy Griffith, Joe Ely and David Grissom. A cover of Lyle Lovett's song “If I Had a Boat” is the most literal pull from this ‘80s country sound, accompanied by soft synth tones.
"We discussed references for an album and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fennesz, and AM oldies radio stations came up. But the main influence was found when we discovered a shared deep connection to ‘80s American country and folk music – artists like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, and Joe Ely. My father was a huge fan of this sound and through my teenage years I heard this music most days and was taken to see loads of performances. The guitar player David Grissom made a huge impact on me as a kid learning to play. It’s not an influence that I usually mention but it’s in there more than I realize and must have helped me develop my sound and ideas. It turns out that William’s father was working in Nashville as a songwriter during this period and actually knew people like David Grissom. So William had grown up with this music as well and knew all the stuff that I was talking about and we both felt that it had shaped our styles. Our idea for the album was to make music that focused on that influence and brought it to the front of our awareness. We’d record the guitars in the studio, exploring styles and sounds from that music, and then I’d take it all home to my computer and bring it into my other world.” – Kieran Hebden
"I think we both in our own specific ways want to recontextualize a lot of music that we grew up with, regardless of the genre, and I think that’s what this album reflects. It’s a lot of nostalgia but it’s also very forward focused. I don’t even know what genre I’m supposed to be in at this point, but I trust Kieran and I love what we’ve done together. He’s become a dear friend and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for us.” – William Tyler
"We discussed references for an album and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fennesz, and AM oldies radio stations came up. But the main influence was found when we discovered a shared deep connection to ‘80s American country and folk music – artists like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, and Joe Ely. My father was a huge fan of this sound and through my teenage years I heard this music most days and was taken to see loads of performances. The guitar player David Grissom made a huge impact on me as a kid learning to play. It’s not an influence that I usually mention but it’s in there more than I realize and must have helped me develop my sound and ideas. It turns out that William’s father was working in Nashville as a songwriter during this period and actually knew people like David Grissom. So William had grown up with this music as well and knew all the stuff that I was talking about and we both felt that it had shaped our styles. Our idea for the album was to make music that focused on that influence and brought it to the front of our awareness. We’d record the guitars in the studio, exploring styles and sounds from that music, and then I’d take it all home to my computer and bring it into my other world.” – Kieran Hebden
"I think we both in our own specific ways want to recontextualize a lot of music that we grew up with, regardless of the genre, and I think that’s what this album reflects. It’s a lot of nostalgia but it’s also very forward focused. I don’t even know what genre I’m supposed to be in at this point, but I trust Kieran and I love what we’ve done together. He’s become a dear friend and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for us.” – William Tyler
