Upon listening to Joe Kaplow’s forthcoming second full-length album, Sending Money and Stems (release date, April 30 via Fluff and Gravy Records), the first thing that strikes you is his voice. Over the course of 10 concise indie folk tracks, his shimmering falsetto seems to dance with the strings of his guitar as it pulls you in and doesn’t let go.
Recorded largely in his own bedroom, Kaplow plays most of the instruments himself, including guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards, percussion, and trumpet. He enlists the help of Elliott Kay on bass and a rotating cast of drummers, including Kaplow himself. When it came time for mixing though, he relied on the trusted hands and ears of Portland fixture, Mike Coykendall (M Ward, She and Him, Blitzen Trapper, Richmond Fontaine) as well as Lucas Heinel.
The first single, “Little Sleep” (below) was released on October 30, and it resulted in the album being picked up by Fluff and Gravy Records. With his vocals awash in reverb, and prominent electric guitar riff, the track leans more toward Indie Rock than some of the more folk based tracks on the record. “Little Sleep” was written about the type of romantic connection that can happen between a nervous homebody and a free-spirited gypsy. As she (the free-spirit) pushes the narrator to be more spontaneous, he wonders where a “little sleep” might fit into the picture.
The new album follows on the heels of Time Spent In Between, his 2019 debut, which has been quietly building a sizable following on streaming services such as Spotify. While that record was sparse and acoustic, Sending Money and Stems is more band oriented, up-tempo, and happy go lucky. “Yeah, Time Spent In Between was a heavy record”, Kaplow reflects.
