Kelly Hogan’s new solo album I Like To Keep Myself In Pain is slated for a release on June 5th via Anti Records. Recently touted "a national treasure" by colleague, friend and former Chicago neighbor, Andrew Bird, Hogan is a frequent collaborator with esteemed musicians in the indie/rock world, but it’s been quite some time since her last solo outing.
On her new album, Hogan curates an ambitious and moving labor of love, mining the perfect intersection between classic pop, country and soul. She utilizes her incredible voice to interpret compositions penned for her by musical luminaries including M. Ward, Vic Chesnutt, Magnetic Fields, the Mekons’ Jon Langford, the Handsome Family, Bird, Freakwater’s Catherine Irwin, John Wesley Harding, Robbie Fulks, Gabriel Roth and Robyn Hitchcock.
She is backed on the album by an absolutely all-star band consisting of R&B legends Booker T. Jones and James Gadson (Bill Withers, Beck) as well as talented young lions Gabe Roth (of Daptone Records, the Dap-Kings) and Scott Ligon.
Anti Records just released a teaser for the album, which you can watch below:
Kelly Hogan’s I Like To Keep Myself In Pain is the record of a lifetime by a beloved talent. From her time fronting acclaimed bands The Jody Grind and Rock*A*Teens, to her role as, what she proudly calls “the noble sideman” with artists such as Neko Case, Mavis Staples, Jakob Dylan and many others, it has all been leading directly to this moment, and this unforgettable new album.
“This record is my history and all my acquired tools and these really amazing songs that people sent me,” Hogan says. “I’m just this person who loves music. And it’s my life. And I hope that people love the songs as much as I do and I hope people will listen to them and make out to them.”
Pitchfork has just premiered the song “We Cant Have Nice Things” written for Hogan by Jack Pendarvis and Andrew Bird. It is a contemplative and soulful track which periodically swells into an unforgettable Burt Bacharach-like pop crescendo.
As Hogan explains, “My dear friend Jack Pendarvis is a writer and he sent these lyrics called “We Can’t Have Nice Things.” He thought it would turn out like this George Jones she-left-me type of song. But I had asked Andrew Bird, who I have worked with a long time, to write me a song. He asked if I had any lyrics he could write with so I sent him Jack’s. He sent them back with this amazing music and it turned into this really deep soul searching psychological song.”
