Tawny Ellis’ fifth and critically acclaimed full-length album, Love Life, featured not only her signature vocal gifts, but also very personal life stories. The music press in the U.S. and Europe gave the album stellar reviews, and it received plenty of radio play. While Love Life represented a new chapter in Ellis’ journey as a songwriter, she says “the process of creating and releasing it also brought a huge shift in my personal peace that I had yearned for.”
Now Ellis is following it up with I to You, a remastered anniversary version of her 2011 album, featuring two re-imagined tracks that will be released before the album comes out on October 8th.
The spirit of I to You is deeply infused with the region of the South of France called L’Aveyron. Ellis and Loria, who normally live in Los Angeles, temporarily moved in with a couple of long-time friends who had relocated to L’Aveyron. The property was surrounded by vineyards, and it also had a farm. “We had fresh goat milk and cheese daily from the farm, and you’d see wild goats grazing along the river and these old stone houses,” Ellis says. “We set up our recording space in a 400-year old stone wine cave, and spent four weeks writing and creating a very intimate record.”
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the standout track “Tonight I Drink Whiskey.” With Ellis’ sultry vocals in the spotlight, the song is an ode to dealing with a broken heart and one of the ways we often treat it. Layered with dreamy guitar twang and a lush soundtrack, the song feels like a more sprawling and dramatic take on the original that captures Ellis’ artistic evolution that takes her into a realm beyond roots rock.
Ellis describes the inspiration behind the tune:
“It was written as a fun song dealing with a broken heart and if you want to dig in deep on this song it’s actually a dangerous subject; to drown your sorrows in whiskey. On such an occasion of feeling cheated, broken-hearted or whatever we dive for a night of debauchery and then feel like shit the next day. Perhaps it helped the heartache for the night but I don’t condone using alcohol as therapy, it’s meant to be a fun song about the urge to get down and drink away your aching heart. There are times when a lot of us think it could be the answer. The bottom line is it’s not the answer, still I love this song and this cinematic version of this reimagined track.”
LISTEN:
Photo credit: @shotsbymorrison
