I recorded this EP at New, Improved Recording in Oakland, CA, a city which I used to live in many years ago, with friends who I've worked with for as many years. So in a lot of ways "Clarion" is a return of sorts: a return to a certain style of playing and writing, a return to a certain simplicity (play guitar, point microphone at guitar, sing) and a return to making music outside of the context of my own bedroom. It also marked a return to the world, as this was really one of the first trips I'd made away from home since the pandemic began. How surreal to remember that other places exist after nearly two years of being confined to a few spaces in my own town. "Clarion" then makes sense, lyrically, in this context. All alone/ you wait/ for silence. The lyrics to the song, which I sort of wrote about a poet friend of mine, are probably more of a projection about me and my experience than an examination of another subject. I guess the point might be about solitude and the clear, truthful ring of silences. "He'll Love You Better" which is the other stand-out track also comes from that place of silence and contemplation but is more about the experience of uncertainty and anxiety, particularly in the context of relationships. What if I'm not good enough for love? I guess we all feel that way sometimes - like we don't deserve love. But we do, and this song is my attempt to write through those feelings; to be vulnerable and admit that I feel this way sometimes, and maybe even for no good reason.
credits
released November 26, 2021
Produced by Caleb Nichols and Joshua Barnhart
Recorded and mixed at New, Improved Studios in Oakland, CA by Ian and Jay Pellici.
1. Clarion written by Caleb Nichols performed by Caleb Nichols, Jameson Swanagon and Joshua Barnhart.
2. Words That Stay written by [Tele Novella] and performed by Caleb Nichols, Joshua Barnhart, Jameson Swanagon and Adam Nash.
3. Clear As Day written and performed by Caleb Nichols.
4. He'll Love You Better written by Caleb Nichols, performed by Caleb Nichols and Joshua Barnhart.
Cover drawing and design by Noah Kwid
Photograph by Deborah Denker
Mastered by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Mastering