There is an aesthetic sensibility that persists throughout Low Mirada, the latest album by singer-songwriter Ryan Traster, swapping the acoustic-leaning instrumentation of his earlier albums for Rickenbackers and more space and fuzz.
This latest offering of songs has a reason, a place, a tradition. Based in Joshua Tree, Traster is concerned with pinning down the milieu of his home and situating his stories in the rich lineage of Cosmic American music pioneers, the likes of The Byrds, Crazy Horse, and Gram Parsons (who left this mortal coil a few blocks away from where Traster lives).
As for the new sonic direction, Traster himself sums it up succinctly: “For this record I was really into the 80s West Coast sound of the Paisley Underground, which pulled in more jangling guitars, keys, and expanded production ideas that felt slightly more contemporary.” This pivot too is grounded in a musical tradition; Traster is an artist and a scholar, leaving us artifacts for both wonderment and posterity.
Low Mirada will be released on September 30th this year on Los Angeles-based Blackbird Record Label. It was recorded by Kris Johnson at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis, MN, mostly with a live band, which gives this effort a more urgent velocity than previous records. It also features keyboards and mixing by Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Pinegrove).
Today Glide is excited to premiere video for the album’s opener “The Night’s Got You,” a mid-tempo number with guitars that oscillate seamlessly from jangle to fuzz, and a slacker vocal delivery that sounds erudite and dreamy all at once. Indeed, the song brings together a sleepy power pop sound that gradually builds with a catchy chorus that finds Traster levitating over the earworm instrumentals. The video catches him living the good life with his friends in his sunny desert setting, complementing the feel-good rock and roll with feel-good visuals.
Traster offer his own explanation and backstory of the tune:
“The Night’s Got You” is the oldest song on the album. It’s rare that I go back to “the vault” and dig stuff up, but I knew I still had a number of demos from the 2012 “Get Easy” sessions that were in need of a revisit. I listened through them and this one really hit me. At the time I wrote it, it felt a bit too auto-biographical and that’s likely the reason it didn’t make it on that album. Listening again last year, it no longer felt applicable to my lifestyle, but certainly still those around me.
The song is mainly just a look at “the night” as a place and lifestyle, more so than a time of day. This idea of spinning out into this cadence where you just waste away the day, because it’s harder to take in or something… It’s a lot easier to see the cracks in your life in the sunlight. You’re just waiting for the reckless embrace of the night. Where you can attach yourself to surface level, numbing, activities and thoughts, find comfort in others living the same way. I feel like a lot of us have been there. It’s in no way a condemnation of that lifestyle, more or less just an acknowledgement. I was really influenced at the time (and always) by The Replacements on this one. I feel like that’s really reflected in the melody and overall energy, feels a bit Westerberg-esque to me at least. Also, a little “Stoned and Dethroned” era The Jesus and Mary Chain thrown in, with the guitar layering and stuff.
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