Acclaimed singer-songwriter Parker Millsap has announced the release of his new album. Be Here Instead arrives via his own Okrahoma Records and Thirty Tigers on Friday, April 9. Produced by the legendary John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Waxahatchee), Be Here Instead is heralded by today’s premiere of the luminous new single, “The Real Thing,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. The song – which features guest vocals from Nashville singer Erin Rae – is joined by an official companion video, streaming now at YouTube. BE HERE INSTEAD is available for pre-order now.
“It’s a song whose meaning has revealed new layers to me over time,” Millsap says. “At first it was about being on the road and missing my wife, then it was about my general distaste for internet communication, and then the pandemic hit, and it became about having to depend on that type of communication and being starved for physical closeness. The thesis of the song is: Facetime ain’t shit.
“For the video, without any prior input from me, Jacq Justice came up with a concept that perfectly framed these new themes the song was revealing to me,” Millsap continues. “What is the “real” connection? How do we find it and foster it these days? Is technology allowing us to stay in touch when we couldn’t otherwise, but hindering the quality of communication? ARE WE TRAPPED IN OUR OWN REFLECTION?!”
Millsap’s fifth studio LP and first new album in close to three years, Be Here Instead marks a stylistic shift from the gritty and high-energy folk of the Oklahoma-bred, Nashville-based artist’s previous output. Mainly recorded live with Millsap’s full band, the album sees a departure from the guitar-and-notebook-based approach to songwriting that shaped his earlier work. Instead, Millsap has followed his curiosity to countless other modes of expression, experimenting with everything from piano to effects pedals to old school drum machines (a fascination partly inspired by the early-’70s innovations of Sly Stone and J.J. Cale).
Track List:
Rolling
The Real Thing
Vulnerable
It Was You
In Between
Dammit
Empty
Now, Here
In Your Eyes
Passing Through
Always
Being Alive
